


Shattered/Scattered

by greeneggs101



Series: Shattered/Scattered [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dorks in Love, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, M/M, Spoilers - Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-10-29 03:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 59,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17800052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeneggs101/pseuds/greeneggs101
Summary: Riku watched and waited and believed andwishedfor his best friend to come back.And then he does. Sorta. Four-year-old Sora is better than no Sora... yeah?But then another pops up. And another. And another. And another....(Alternate title for this fic: Fantastic Soras and Where to Find Them)SPOILERS for the end of KH3 while also kinda being a fix it. And kinda ignoring the secret ending.





	1. Shattered

**Author's Note:**

> This kinda came to me at like... midnight one night and I had to quickly text my friend to tell her to hold onto this idea for me until the next evening because I had important work stuff to do the next day. Luckily, my friend did so. :D 
> 
> Kinda inspired by that one part in KH3 where you are on Sora collection, and kinda inspired by Riku's last dive in DDD. But also mostly written because the idea would not leave me alone.

Riku let out a sigh, staring out into the sunset of the Destiny Islands. 

 

A month. 

 

It had been one month since Kairi returned. 

 

And Sora didn’t. 

 

They had all watched that evening as the Sora sitting with Kairi on the Paopu tree just... disintegrated. Like smoke particles. There one moment and gone the next. 

 

And Riku felt his heart collapse with him. 

 

“He’s still with us Riku...” Kairi had tried to reassure him, tears streaming down his own face. “You know that. In our hearts.”

 

Unfortunately, while Riku understood the importance of keeping friends in his heart, it really wasn’t the same as a flesh and blood Sora that he could tease and hug and just hold on to so tightly that he’d never have to lose the brunet again. 

 

But for now, they waited. Waited to see if Sora would ever make a reappearance, or if he was gone for good. Riku held onto the hope that Sora was just lost and would soon turn back up, hungry and a little embarrassed for being gone for so long. 

 

The silver haired boy just wished he could do something. 

 

But Yen Sid said that because of what Sora had done, it would be reckless to try and go after him. 

 

Riku almost felt like being a little reckless, but a quick glance from Aqua and Kairi’s gentle grip on his hand cooled his natural instinct to jump into whatever Sora had gotten himself into. 

 

So instead he waited by the shore every day. This was where he and Sora had ended their journey once. It made sense that the first place Sora would turn up would be here. 

 

Right?

 

Besides, here was where he felt the closest to his best friend. Where the part of his heart that resonated with Sora’s felt the strongest pull. 

 

Suddenly, he was startled out of his thoughts when a cheery little tune sounded out from his back pocket. He groaned and pulled the gummi phone out and clicked the answer button. “Yeah?”

 

“You coming back soon?” 

 

“I’m fine, Kairi...” he whispered, leaning back against the sand and holding the phone out so he could see her better. “I’m just...”

 

“He’ll turn up,” Kairi said, “But he’ll be mad if you haven’t been taking care of yourself. That includes food. And rest.”

 

“Yeah, yeah...” Riku murmured, glancing away so he could avoid her gaze. 

 

“And a shower...” 

 

Even without looking at her, Riku could picture her wrinkled nose. She hated it when either Sora or Riku tried to give her a hug after they’ve been playing for hours in the hot sun. He almost let out a chuckle at the thought. 

 

Almost. 

 

“I’ve been swimming.”

 

“That doesn’t count Riku, and you know it,” she let out a deep sigh. “You’ve been there for two days.”

 

“Have I?” It hadn’t  _ felt _ like two days. 

 

Though... time without Sora seemed to be going by too fast or too slow. It varied by the hour. 

 

“Riku, I’m worried.”

 

He turned his head back to look at her. “So am I...”

 

“Not about Sora, he can take care of himself. According to everyone else, you were the one who said we had to trust him.” Her voice raised a bit. 

 

“I’m sorry...” He had said that. And he did believe in Sora. So much. Sora  _ would _ return to them. 

 

He just... didn’t realize how much he  _ needed _ Sora to be okay. 

 

Kairi was handling it better, resuming her training (“I’m learning more self-defense, because I am  _ not _ getting kidnapped  _ again!”), _ and getting to know Namine as a person rather than just a part of herself. By extension, she was getting to know Xion, Roxas, and the others as well. She was well on her way to becoming a true master. 

 

A rank Sora had never officially achieved. 

 

“I don’t want to seem like I’m nagging--”

 

“You’re not!” Riku was quick to reassure her. Kairi never nagged. Voice her concerns often and with varying degrees of frustration? Sure, but never nag. “I know, and I’ll be back soon. I’m just...”

 

“You’re acting like he’s dead.” Kairi stated. “And he’s not-- he--” She cut herself off, her breath hitching. 

 

“He’s not dead, Kairi,” Riku reassured her. “He’s just...lost. And we need to keep our hearts open to him so he can find his way home. We all need to keep our hearts on him.”

 

“Yeah...” Kairi nodded, then turned to Riku. “And we need to take care of ourselves.”

 

“Right...” Riku chuckled, “I know. I’ll be back soon. Promise. By tonight.”

 

“I’m gonna hold you to that.” Kairi let out another sigh and waved goodbye, hanging up. 

 

Riku groaned, hanging up as well laying the gummiphone on his chest. He’d get up, any minute now...

 

“Wow, she sounds really worried.”

 

Riku gasped and sat up, sand flying up around him. “Sora?!”

 

“Er... no... not exactly...” 

 

Riku’s eyes glanced around wildly before realizing that the voice had come from the gummiphone. When he flipped it back over, he saw Sora waving up at him, dressed in his old red jumper and white jacket. 

 

It took Riku a minute before he let out a groan and flobbed back down on the grass. “Hi, Data-Sora...”

 

“No need to sound so morose!” the data version of his friend chided. 

 

“Really? Morose?” Riku chuckled, voice a little choked as he tried not to cry. “Did Chip and Dale download a thesaurus into your code when we weren’t looking?”

 

“... I learned it from Data-Riku?” 

 

Riku let out a sigh and sat back up. Chip and Dale had downloaded the little guy onto Riku’s phone some time after the battle as a sort of ‘virtual assistant.’ He knew that they were just being kind, but the reminder that, as of now, the only real version of Sora that existed was the one on his phone was a little... heartbreaking.

 

Especially since Data-Sora reminded the silver haired boy so much of the real thing. Usually the little digital version would hide in his phone, messing with the pictures Riku had saved to show Sora. The real Sora. 

 

Suddenly, another voice echoed across the empty beach. 

 

_ “Riku? C’mon Riku pick up! If I can learn how to use this thing, so can you, and the important thing is to pick up!”  _ Sora’s voice was tense, slightly deeper and more mature than the data version. There was a rush of air across the speakers as the brunet had let out a frustrated sigh.  _ “C’mon. I’m worried. Chip and Dale said they lost contact with you. You’re still in the realm of darkness, right? I’m coming to get you. Me and Donald and Goofy. We’re coming! So just... stay strong, okay? Please, just... be okay... I need you to be okay...” The voice trailed off, and then a click, signalling that Sora had hung up.  _

 

Right... Sora’s last voicemail. Riku had been too preoccupied avoiding a giant tower made of shadows to answer at the time. And Sora had, miraculously, actually made it just in time, shocking Riku to his core. 

 

Sora would always dive headfirst into danger to save his friends. 

 

“Do you feel better?” Data-Sora peaked out from the edge of the screen, having evidently hidden when he pulled the voicemail up, unsure of Riku’s reaction. 

 

_ Not really... _ Riku thought, but couldn’t stand the pouting that would ensue if he said the words out loud. “Yeah, little guy. I feel much better.” 

 

Data-Sora grinned. “Great!”

 

Riku huffed out a grin of his own. 

 

“Riku! Where are you?!”

 

Riku gasped, and whipped around to look behind him. 

 

But there was no one there. 

 

That voice though. It was young, childish. 

 

And engraved in his heart. 

 

“Huh? Riku, what’s wrong?” Data-Sora worried. 

 

Had Riku... imagined it?

 

“It’s nothing...” Riku shook his head. “Hey, can you....go tell Kairi I’m on my way?”

 

“Huh?” Data Sora frowned, but obediently pulled up an email to mail himself to the redhead’s phone. “Okay.... but you’ll be okay, right?”

 

“I’ll be fine...” Riku reassured the tiny data-version. Then he clicked the phone screen to dim it and placed it back in his pocket. 

 

He didn’t hear the voice again. 

 

Maybe he did imagine it. 

 

He stood up from his usual waiting spot and stretched, feeling every crick and snap his joints made. 

 

Maybe it had been three days...

 

He should probably go and get something to snack on for the ride back. A banana or coconut or something...

 

“Riku?? C’mon, I wanna play!!” 

 

Riku gasped and whipped his head around again, feeling a sharp pain in his neck as he did so. He flinched, rubbing at his neck but keeping his eye on the edge of the forest all the same.  

 

He thought he saw something rustle in the foliage. Was that a brunet spike of hair? 

 

He took off at a run, bursting through the trees. “Sora?!?”

 

“Riku?” came the questioning response, still sounding so young. 

 

“Sora!” Riku shouted, teal eyes glancing around every hiding spot and open area he could remember playing in when he and Sora were younger. When the play island was so big and new and perfect. 

 

He distractedly wondered when it ever stopped being that for him. 

 

“Riku!” 

 

Suddenly, from the bushes a tiny brunet emerged, looking so much smaller than Riku could believe Sora had ever been. Wide sky blue eyes glanced up at Riku, hands fiddling with the shirt Sora had worn nearly every day when he was four. 

 

“Who are you?” Sora wondered, “Where’s Riku?”

 

Riku gasped and knelt down cautiously, not wanting to startle this young version of his friend. “Sora?”

 

Sora backed up a little, nervous. “Yeah? Who are you? What’d you do with Riku?” His eyes narrowed a bit. “Are you Riku’s dad?”

 

Riku huffed out a startled laugh. His own mother had mentioned that he looked a lot like his father had when he had been young. “Not... exactly...”

 

That just seemed to make Sora angrier. “That’s not funny! You don’t just stop being a dad just cause you disappear!” A weak, but angry fist landed on Riku’s knee, startling the other boy. “You made Riku sad!” 

 

Riku ducked his head, hiding a smile. Sora had been so angry when Riku told him that his father was gone, the three-year-old not quite mature enough to understand death yet, while Riku had a harsh lesson in it. He hadn’t wanted to upset his friend though, so he let Sora believe for years that Riku’s father had just gone for a fishing trip he never returned from. He was never sure when, exactly, Sora had figured out the truth. 

 

“I’m not Riku’s dad, Sora,” Riku hesitantly held out a hand and ruffled the brunet’s hair. He could feel it. The warmth radiating off of Sora’s body, his tiny fist earlier. “I  _ am _ Riku...”

 

‘Nuh uh!” Sora protested. “Riku’s not that old...”

 

“Hey!” Riku stuck out his tongue. “I’m not old!”

 

“Uh huh!” Sora poked at Riku’s face, pulling the sides of his mouth apart. “Riku smiles all the time and old people don’t. So, you’re not Riku.”

 

Riku chuckled at the childish logic. “Oh yeah, banana breath? Who promised not to tell your mom you ate all the chocolate ice cream?”

 

“Riku!” Sora looked shocked, “You promised!”

 

“Hey, I never told her!” Riku ruffled the brunet spikes again, unable to stop touching this tiny version of his friend. So real and in front of him. “She’s too smart for that...”

 

“Uh...” Sora’s eyes glanced up to where Riku’s hand met his hair, then reached up to grab at the larger hand, examining it. “Why’d you get old Riku?”

 

“We both did...” Riku said, trying not to let the tears fall. And he would keep getting older, while Sora--

 

No... Sora,  _ his _ Sora, was coming back. They’d continue to get old and Sora would continue to whine at never hitting that growth spurt. 

 

“Nuh uh!” Sora stuck out his own tongue. “I’m never growing up!” 

 

This time, Riku couldn’t hold back the tears and he reached out with his other hand, pulling the boy closer. “Sora...” 

 

“Why are you sad, Riku?”

 

“Because...” Riku trailed off. He couldn’t tell what was making him sad to a small child. “I just... miss you, is all.”

 

“But I’m right here!” Sora protested. “You’re the one who... got old.”

 

“I’m not old...” Riku protested again, tickling Sora as he did so. 

 

The brunet shrieked in laughter and wiggled away. “Catch me, Riku!” With that he darted off. 

 

“Wait! Sora!” Riku jumped to his feet and ran after the smaller boy. “Sora! It’s not safe!”

 

Laughter echoed his worried shout. 

 

The sun was setting fast, the shadows lengthening. Riku wasn’t as familiar with the island as he had been in his youth. He fumbled over overgrown bushes and branches. “Sora!”

 

Suddenly, he tripped over an unseen root, falling heavily to the ground. When he tried to stand back up, it was as if the three days of no food or rest finally caught up to him. Despite his best efforts, he felt his eyes drift closed, his vision becoming hazy. “Sora?”

 

Even as he drifted off, he thought he could still hear Sora’s bright laughter. 

 

Then the shadows eclipsed him. 

 

\--

 

“Riku!”

 

A soft groan exited his lips and he squeezed his eyes shut against the bright light. “No... go away...”

 

“Yeah... that’s not gonna happen...” 

 

Something shook him and he flinched curling up tighter. “No...”

 

“And you called us lazy bums?” 

 

Suddenly Riku felt something cold and wet hit his face and he sputtered awake, coughing to get the water out of his nose. “What the hell, Kairi?!”

 

“I really don’t think that was necessary...” Kairi said, though evidently not in response to Riku’s own outburst. 

 

“It woke him up, didn’t it?”

 

Riku coughed another few times then turned to glare at the new voice, just a few years younger than his own. “I really don’t like you sometimes.”

 

“Feeling’s mutual,” his younger version smirked and tapped the bucket he must have carried the water in against a tree, making sure it was fully empty. Kairi must have grabbed the Replica from the main island to help search for Riku. “But still, you were kinda sleeping like a rock.”

 

“What happened?” Kairi wondered, looking at him in pure worry.

 

Right... he promised to be back at the tower by now. 

 

Suddenly he remembered why he hadn’t headed back. 

 

“Sora?!” He shouted, trying to get up, though Kairi’s firm grip held him back down. 

 

“Oh, no! You’re not going anywhere till you’ve eaten something!” Kairi shouted, pushing him back on his ass and firmly shaking a granola bar at him. “Now. You. Will. Eat.” 

 

“Yes, ma’am...” Riku muttered weakly, taking the offered granola bar from her hand and shoving half of it into his mouth. His stomach grumbled loudly in response to the food and he tried to eat the rest a little less hurriedly. Kairi just rolled her eyes and pulled out another granola bar, passing it over to Riku’s outstretched hand. 

 

“So...” She began, “You wanna explain yourself?”

 

“Not particularly,” Riku grumbled around another bite of granola bar. The memory of a four-year-old Sora was seeming more and more like a dream now that he was well rested and somewhat full. Kairi’s glare didn’t let him linger on that answer thought. “It’s.... gonna sound crazy.”

 

“That sounds about normal for you...” His younger version muttered, shouting when Riku hit him with the granola bar wrapper. “Hey! No littering!” 

 

“I wasn’t. Just throwing my trash in the trash can,” Riku teased, knowing that the Replica wouldn’t take too much offense at it. Sure enough, the Replica only glared at his awful attempt at humor and stuffed the wrappers in his own pocket. “Anyway, I thought... I kinda thought I had ran into Sora last night. But he was younger... about four? I think?”

 

That didn’t do anything to alleviate Kairi’s worry. If anything, it intensified. “Riku...”

 

“I know!” Riku raised hands up, “I know, it’s nuts. Probably sleep deprivation and... wishful thinking.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It just seemed so--”

 

“Catch me, Riku!!” A voice called out. 

 

Instinctually Riku held his arms out, and suddenly, they grew heavy as he caught one giggling, dirty, but very  _ very _ corporeal four-year-old Sora. “--real...” He finished lamely, staring at the still giggling brunet with as much shock as he did when the same brunet, but older, had landed in the realm of darkness all smiles and nonchalance. 

 

He shared a surprised look with Kairi and the Replica, both of them staring at the brunet with the same amount of confusion and awe. 

 

Finally the Replica broke the silence.

 

“Did you wish... really,  _ really _ hard?”

 

\--

 

Getting Sora to agree to get on the gummiship was a bit difficult. He wanted to go see him mom. 

 

Kairi and Riku had shared a look. The poor woman was still mourning the loss of the boy she had raised and hadn’t understood Riku and Kairi’s advice to keep Sora alive in her heart. Letting her see this four year old version of her son with no promises of how it would turn out... might actually end up hurting her further. 

 

“She’s out of town, Sora...” The Replica grinned at the brunet, ruffling the brunet spikes. “You’re staying with us until she gets back, so you gotta get on the gummiship.”

 

“Hmm...” Sora hadn’t been too sure about this other Riku when the Replica made himself known. But eventually he just declared that it was so cool that Riku had managed to  _ double _ himself, so they figured he was okay with it. “I don’t know...”

 

“We have chocolate!” The Replica pried. 

 

“Okay!” 

 

Riku glared as the other boy. “We are  _ not _ giving him chocolate.” 

 

“Aww....” Sora collapsed against his chest, all eagerness gone at the prospect of no chocolate. 

 

“Spoilsport...” The Replica grumbled, though there was a slight grin on his face. 

 

Eventually, Sora curled up on Riku’s lap, hugging the older boy as best he could while struggling to not fall asleep. Riku grinned, nodding at Kairi to take the controls of the gummiship. They’d pick up his own gummiship later. After they figured out what to do with this little guy. The Replica sat in the third chair, pulling a gummiphone out of his pocket to make a quick phone call. 

 

Kairi had remained curiously quiet as she started the ship up and opened a gate. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Riku whispered, mindful of both the now sleeping Sora and the Replica on the phone. 

 

Kairi opened her mouth to answer, but then hesitated. “It’s just...” She sighed. “What if... this is a trap?” She stared at the small brunet a little apprehensive. “He just... appears? When you’re wishing for any part of Sora to come back? What if this is the chance Maleficent has been waiting for? Or those new robed figures? Or... _ whoever _ else wants to harm us?” 

 

“It’s not.” Riku pulled Sora closer to his chest. “Kairi, I don’t know what’s going on, but this  _ is _ Sora. Just a... smaller, cuter version.” 

 

Kairi chuckled softly. “Oh please. You think any version of Sora is small and cute.”

 

Riku felt his face heat up and he refused to meet Kairi’s knowing look. They had a long conversation about this when she got back, Riku needing to tell someone, and Kairi wanting someone else who understood. “It’s not like that!”

 

“Obviously...” Kairi waved her hand dismissively and returned her attention to the ocean between. 

 

“Mom’s not happy you were there for nearly three days and didn’t say hi.” The Replica let out a sigh and hung of the phone taking a seat next to the older boy. 

 

“I, uh... meant to stop in...” Riku trailed off. He did kinda mean to. Maybe. 

 

“Uh huh...” The Replica rolled his eyes and pulled a book out of his backpack. With a start, Riku realized it was the one he used when he went to Destiny High. “As it is, she just wants me home in time for school next week. And she wants you to stop in and say hello at some point.”

 

“Yeah, yeah...” Riku leaned back against the chair, cradling Sora to his chest. “She got you enrolled and everything?”

 

“Yeah, just have to catch up on the summer reading.” The Replica looked bored with the prospect, and yet, somehow also eager. “It’s dumb.” 

 

Riku grinned a bit. “Not as dumb as someone who thought we couldn’t possibly make another replica for you.”

 

The Replica’s face turned a bit read. “Shut up. I wasn’t thinking.”

 

“Yeah, you were just thinking of Namine...” Riku teased. 

 

“Shut. Up.” 

 

From the captain’s chair, Kairi giggled. “You’ll like school. The teachers are pretty nice, and it’s not too bad.”

 

“Yeah, I remember. Kinda...” 

 

Riku looked back over at his younger twin as the boy flipped through a well worn book, mouth moving quietly as he read, much like Riku himself did. And once again, he was grateful to his mom for taking the boy in. The Replica had been lost, unsure of his second chance at life, so Riku took him to one of the few people who knew everything that he had done and still loved him entirely, his mother. 

 

_ Mom was looking for a chance to actually raise me _ . Riku thought privately,  _ and he needs all the love I brushed off when I was fifteen.  _

 

It ended up working out perfectly. Riku’s mom enrolled the Replica in Destiny Islands High School, letting him stay in Riku’s old room and using the clothes Riku had left behind. The older boy didn’t mind becoming a bit of a stranger in his own hometown. He was pretty sure his mom understood his feelings on the matter. And they had a discussion about it when Riku had come back the first. As long as he continued to check in every now and then so his mother didn’t worry, she wouldn’t ask too much about his adventures. 

 

“Oh yeah,” Kairi turned back to look at the Replica. “Did you guys figure out a new name?”

 

The Replica seemed to sink into the chair a bit. “Yeah... She signed me up for school as Rikuto...a sorta distant cousin.” 

 

“And is that...” Riku started, not sure how to finish. “Okay?”

 

The Replica, Rikuto, shrugged. “It’s close enough to what I feel what my name should be... and better than just being referred to as ‘the Replica’ forever...” 

 

“Sorry...” Riku started, but Rikuto waved him off. 

 

“It’s fine, I get it...”

 

“Should we call you Rikuto then?” Kairi wondered, “So you get used to it?”

 

The boy hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. “Yeah. I think that’ll help.”

 

“Okay!” She grinned and took one hand off the steering wheel for a moment to wave. “Hi, Rikuto! I’m Kairi! It’s nice to meet you!”

 

Rikuto huffed out a quiet laugh. “It’s nice to meet you, too...” 

 

Riku grinned at both of them, running a hand down Sora’s back, nudging the boy just enough so he stopped drooling on Riku’s shirt. 

 

When he glanced up, he found Kairi still staring at him, a bit in concern, but she offered him a small grin when he raised an eyebrow. 

 

“I’m glad he’s here.... In any form...” She whispered, then returned to driving. 

 

Riku quietly agreed, leaning down to place a soft, affectionate kiss in Sora’s spikey locks. 

 

\---

 

“This is...not what I expected.”

 

Riku had to agree with Yen Sid. This wasn’t what he expected either. 

 

After he, Rikuto, and Kairi landed back at the tower, Ventus had come sprinting down the stairs, saying that Sora had shown up at the land of departure but he wasn’t quite the same. 

 

“You mean like this?” Rikuto asked, pointing at the still sleeping toddler in Riku’s arms. 

 

Ven blinked for a moment, stunned for words. He pointed back inside the tower. “That’s just, uh... Terra has our version...”

 

Sure enough, when they arrived back into Yen Sid’s study, they found Terra battling with a more rambunctious and awake four-year-old Sora, who was wiggling and struggling to get out of Terra’s firm grasp. 

 

“Uh... is this yours?” Terra questioned, holding out the wiggling child, but hesitating when he saw that Riku already had his hands full. 

 

“Sora. Behave,” Riku poked the brunet’s cheek. 

 

“Don’t wanna!” Sora shouted, still wiggling. “Want more chocolate.”

 

“We didn’t give you any chocolate!” Terra protested, wincing when Sora scratched his arms in an effort to get away. 

 

Riku sighed and bent down to the boy’s level. “Sora, if you don’t stop wiggling right now, I’m gonna tell Mom who ate the ice cream.”

 

“Noo!!!” Sora wailed, though the wiggling stopped, more in shock that it was Riku who was talking to him than in actual agreement. “Riku?”

 

“That’s right...” Riku said, poking the boy’s cheek again. “I’m older and bigger than you now, so you have to listen to me.”

 

Sora huffed and puffed, but finally crossed his arms with a pout. “No fair.” 

 

Hesitantly, Terra put the boy down to the floor, letting out a sigh of relief when he didn’t run off. “How did you--”

 

“Sora tended to get kinda mean and hyper when he had chocolate as a child,” Riku explained, shuffling his own Sora from one arm to the other. “He would only listen to me or his mom.”

 

“Where’s mom?” The awake Sora asked, pulling on Riku’s pants leg. 

 

“She had to go out of town for work, so you’re staying with us until she gets back,” Riku said. Sora pouted but stayed quiet until Yen Sid could be found and given a brief, if confused explanation. 

 

Hearing that the former master was also less than enlightened on this situation worried Riku greatly. 

 

“Master? How can there be two Soras?” Kairi wondered, looking between both boys with ever growing confusion. 

 

“Two Soras?!” Lea’s voice rang out, “Better make that three!” The redhead burst in, followed quickly by Roxas, Namine, and Xion, the darker haired girl carrying a napping brunet on her back. This one was older than the ones currently still pouting or sleeping in Riku’s arms, but not by much. Maybe a year? He had a bandaid across his nose and knee, like he got into an accident recently. 

 

_ He had those injuries the first time he tried to ride a bike...  _ Riku thought, and a quick glance at Kairi confirmed it. She remembered too. It was one of the first times the three of them had hung out together. 

 

“He kept calling me Kairi and asking why I dyed my hair,” Xion stated as she gently put the sleeping boy on the floor. 

 

“Well uh...” Kairi began but trailed off when all three Soras began to glow, the lights brightly converging for a second before fading away, two of the Soras now gone. 

 

With a start, Riku realized that the Sora in his arms had grown slightly heavier and a little ganglier, and a quick glance at the brunet’s face confirmed it. Sora had grown. Maybe not as old as the one Xion had carried in, but definitely older than the one he had held all the way here. 

 

“This is...very unique indeed.” Yen Sid stroked his beard. “I’m afraid we must seek knowledge from others to understand these mysterious circumstances.”

 

_ Why can’t you just say ‘I don’t know, ask someone else?’ _ Riku wondered but nodded anyway. “We’ll seek out Ansem the Wise and his apprentices then? They have a bit more experience in...uh... putting themselves back together.”

 

“It’s not exactly the same situation,” Lea pointed out. 

 

“It’s all I got...” Riku shrugged. 

 

“It might the the right course of action,” Yen Sid acknowledged. “I will also send for Mickey and his friends to meet you there.”

 

Riku nodded and bowed the best he could with Sora still clinging to him, the others following in suit. Lea held the door open as they left. 

 

“So... I suppose we’re caravanning to Radiant Garden?” Lea questioned. 

 

“You guys don’t have to--” Riku started, but stopped when he saw everyone’s faces. 

 

“C’mon,” Ven huffed. “Sora’s our friend too. We want to know what’s going on.”

 

Riku blinked but then nodded. “Caravan it is. Kairi and I will go in one--”

 

“And me...” Rikuto added himself in, hurrying over to stand at Kairi’s side. 

 

“Okay...” Riku agreed. “And I guess you guys brought your own anyway?”

 

“We can go by keyblade glider,” Aqua said. 

 

Riku frowned. “How’d you get here?”

 

“Same way,” Terra shrugged, “We went through the safest routes to get here so Sora stayed safe.”

 

“Okay.” Riku agreed, “See you guys there.”

 

They all filed into their respective gummiships and started off. 

 

“So... three in just the past few hours...” Rikuto mused, one hand to his chin in thought. “That must have been some wish.”

 

Riku groaned and collapsed against his seat. 

 

He  _ wished _ that he did know what the heck was going on. 

 

\--

 

“This is quite interesting,” Ienzo murmured, gently prodding Sora’s face. “And you said there were three of them? And they... converged?”

 

“Yeah?” Riku said, pulling Sora way when the boy began to fuss at Ienzo’s prodding. “And... he hasn’t woken up since then.” He wished Ansem the Wise was here, but they were told that the older gentleman was in town taking care of business. So while they waited, Riku filled the apprentices in on what had happened. 

 

“Well...It takes a lot out of you when a nobody and heartless are recompleted,” Ienzo stated, backing away politely. “We would know better than anyone, so having three become one again...” He trailed off, lost in thought. 

 

“But Sora wasn’t recompleted from a heartless and nobody,” Roxas pointed out. “He was three different somebodies.”

 

“Different versions of the same somebody,” Even said, head bowed in his note taking. “It’s not even like my replica program.”

 

Rikuto scoffed at the older blonde, who completely ignored the younger silver haired boy in favor of his research. 

 

“Riku, you said that the version that Xion had brought in was from a specific moment in time?”

 

“Uh, kinda?” Riku wasn’t sure how to describe it. “Those injuries he had. They were from when he learned how to ride a bike.”

 

“Uh huh... and the version that you brought in?”

 

Riku glance down at the sleeping boy in his arms. “From the first time we visited the play I think... He would have been about four. We were surprised that his mom let us go out since just a month before he had eaten all the chocolate ice cream.” He turned to Terra, Aqua and Ven. “I think you had that Sora.”

 

“Interesting... so different Sora’s from different moments in time. All converging into one...”

 

“So he got scattered...” A new voice said. 

 

Riku whipped around, frowning at the sitar playing former nobody. “What are you still doing here?”

 

“Can’t remember when I came from, decided to chill here till I did.” Demyx offered up a wide grin. 

 

“I do wish you’d ‘chill’ elsewhere...” Even huffed. 

 

“Hey, you’re the one who decided to make me your ally...” Demyx huffed back, “Makes you responsible for me.”

 

“It does not!” Even protested. 

 

“Enough...” Ienzo shook his head. “Demyx, what did you mean by ‘scattered’?”

 

“Uh... you know? Like when you’re putting together a puzzle and someone bumps the table. The pieces get all shuffled and scattered. It’s easy to see how the picture goes back together again once the pieces are gathered, but until then--”

 

“They’re just pieces of a whole...” Ienzo murmured, “Of course. Like moments that make up a whole person.”

 

“Right!” Demyx said, though he didn’t look too sure of himself. 

 

“When did you get so smart?” Roxas wondered. 

 

“Weren’t you more in the uh... not so bright side?” Xion added.  

 

“Don’t need to act so shocked!” Demyx protested. “I’ll have you know that it was my ‘apparent dumbness’ that saved the day. Roxas you should know that better than anyone!”

 

“No it was definitely your lack of the ability to plan anything that hid you from my true intentions.” Even grumbled. “You were just the delivery boy.”

 

“Still took brains to get Ansem the Wise from Twilight Town to here without getting noticed by the old guy.” 

 

“And we’re all very grateful,” Kairi interjected. “But what does that have to do with Sora...”

 

“What Demyx said is true. Your friend’s heart was shattered.”

 

Riku and Kairi both let out sounds of distress, and Ienzo hurried to finish. “But he’s putting himself back together. Those young Soras you found? Were bits of his heart and soul that remained in this world. By converging, he’s building onto those small pieces to make a bigger whole.”

 

“So those versions of Sora... are just pieces of a more complete Sora...” Riku murmured, then had another thought. “So... there’s probably more out there?!”

 

“Well, given that you found three... yes I would say that there are a number of Sora’s out there.” Ienzo raised a finger in thought. “Theoretically... an infinite number.”

 

“We’ll find them...” Riku stated, voice firm. “All of them...” 

 

“I don’t think you’ll have to go that far,” Ienzo mused. “If you bring enough versions of Sora’s together, the rest should follow more easily. The higher concentration of Sora’s heart, the more likely the rest will naturally gravitate towards completion as well.” 

 

“Uh....” Kairi tilted her head in thought. 

 

“Like a Sora magnet!” Demyx explained, showing again that he wasn’t nearly as dumb as he liked others to believe. “The bigger the magnet, the faster and more pieces of Sora it will gather on its own.”

 

“As it is though, you may need to grab a few more for the process to start naturally occurring.” Even, looked up from his notes. “If only so there aren’t so many Soras out there bringing who knows what chaos to the worlds...” 

 

“Sora doesn't--” Riku started, but cut himself off when he remembered Sora’s... Sora-ness. “Right... we’ll just... start bringing pieces of him back...” 

 

“That’s great and all...” Aqua said, “But where do we start?”

 

“Uh, don’t you guys just go with the whole ‘heart be your guiding key’ thing and go on your merry way?” Demyx wondered. “If I remember the old guy, they were relying on Sora to follow his connections to people to find the seven guardians. So... shouldn’t you guys be able to trace that connection back?”

 

“You are not nearly as dumb as you want us to think...” Ienzo murmured, “And I’d like to know why...”

 

Demyx chuckled. “Hey, I gotta keep some secrets!” He then winked at the shorter male. “But I’ll gladly share them over a cup of coffee? Yeah?”

 

Riku and the others chuckled, growing in volume when the usual reserved Ienzo’s face reddened and he sputtered out some nonsense before turning back to Riku and the still sleeping Sora. “We can leave the, er..... Sora Prime... here, so there’s a centralized location for you all to return too.” 

 

Riku was reluctant to let go. “But what if--”

 

“We can keep him in stasis so he doesn’t wake up and worry about your absence.” Even clicked a few buttons on the computer. “And we’ll inform the Master of our new guest as soon as he returns.”

 

“I, uh...”

 

“It’s okay, Riku.” Kairi reassured him. “We’ll need you out there if we’re gonna find enough pieces of Sora.” 

 

“I suggest you go in pairs if possible. In case there is trouble...” Ienzo warned. “And don’t be afraid of visiting places others have already found Soras. A fresh pair of eyes might turn up something new.”

 

Finally, Riku nodded and laid the sleeping boy on the nearby examination chair. 

 

“Mmm... Riku...” Sora murmured, still half asleep. 

 

“I’ll be right here...” Riku mumbled back, holding a hand over Sora’s heart. “And when you wake up, you’ll be okay again.”

 

“Okay...” Sora repeated, then drifted back to sleep. 

 

Riku stood up, ruffling the brunet spikes one last time, then turned to the assembled group. “Okay, let’s get out of here and figure out how we’re splitting up.”

 

As they all filed out of the crowded lab, Riku glanced back at Sora one last time.  _ Soon _ , he promised himself. 

 

Sora would come back to them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter definitely delves more into the "Fantastic Soras and Where to Find Them" part. 
> 
> Yes, I have an issue bringing the Replica back in nearly every fanfic. No, it's not gonna change anytime soon. I derived the name Rikuto because it did sound similar enough to Riku while also being different enough. 
> 
> Let me know what you think... and maybe any team-ups you want to see in the next chapter? I have a few planned out... but we also do have quite a few Soras to find...


	2. Fantastic Soras and Where to Find Them, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for Sora(s) has begun! .... but where to start?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so the original plan was to have all of the little 'Sora searches' in one chapter because I thought they'd all be under 1000 words. But I forget that I am a wordy b*tch (and the toddler Soras are just too cute to cut) that most of them ended up in the 1500-2000 range. So I split them up into three chapters. Most of the other Sora searches are written, just need to be edited, but I also wouldn't expect them out until after the 8th of March. 
> 
> Work projects kinda suck and I miss school. :(

_ \--- Kairi & Riku, Radiant Garden --- _

 

Kairi couldn’t help but stare a little at Riku’s back as the boy asked around town if anyone knew where Leon and the gang had moved to. The restoration committee had apparently decided to take a vacation shortly after the full restoration of the world and then moved house. Kairi wasn’t even sure Leon and the others knew Sora was---

 

Well... She was sure Sora hadn’t talked to them in a while. 

 

“Any word?” She asked. 

 

“Hm... The item shop lady thought they might have moved to the west side of town. But the armory thought it was the east side. And then...” Riku let out a sigh. “Maybe we should just... look for Soras on our own?”

 

“I can’t help but think a Sora would be with them,” Kairi reasoned. “He did... spend a lot of time with them. Kind of like family.” She felt bad that Sora hadn’t been able to find a spare moment to see them before the battle. 

 

“Right...” Riku sighed and pulled out a kupo coin. “Heads east, tails west?” 

 

“Deal,” Kairi agreed. 

 

Riku flipped the coin and they looked. “West it is then.” 

 

Kairi turned about and started walking, this time Riku trailing behind her. She found that the more time she spent in this world, the better she could remember it. Parts of it anyway. She used that newfound knowledge to easily navigate the streets, each one lovingly restored to exactly as it had been. 

 

She wished she could visit more often. 

 

She then glanced back at Riku, who was staring at the mosaic walkway, barely watching where he was going. “He’s gonna be okay...”

 

“Huh?” Riku looked up in confusion. 

 

“Sora. We’ll find all his pieces and he’ll be okay.” Kairi was sure of it. With all of Sora’s friends on the lookout, they’d find all of him in no time. “No reason to look so sad...”

 

“Oh... it wasn’t that... exactly...” Riku let out a sigh and looked away. “I just...” He trailed off. “When I was talking to the younger Sora earlier... or, last night rather... I kinda... realized that I missed being a kid. You know? When Sora and I first went out to that island, it seemed so big... and then as we got older, it got smaller to me. But to Sora... it never did. I miss being able to see the world the way he does.”

 

“Hmm...” Kairi grinned. “He does see the world in a rather unique way. And the way he sees people.” 

 

“True...” Riku finally offered a grin. “We need to save him. The world seems so much more smaller without him.”

 

“Agreed.” 

 

They hurried to the houses on the west side, ready to ask around. 

 

They ended up not having too. 

 

“C’mon Leon! Best two outta three?!”

 

“Haven’t you had enough yet?”

 

“Go Sora!!” 

 

Kairi and Riku shared just a quick look then ran ahead. 

 

“Sora?” Riku called out. “Sora! Answer me!”

 

“Riku?” Came the answering call. “Riku, you’re here?!”

 

Spiky brown hair came into view, only to race past her and straight into Riku’s arms. “Riku!” 

 

It was Sora, fifteen and apparently just before the start of his second journey. 

 

“Riku, you got so tall!” Sora tried to stand on his tippy-toes, his face hovering super close to Riku’s face, much to the older boy’s embarrassment. “And... and muscular!” Sora now started to pat and rub Riku’s biceps, which didn’t help the silver haired boy’s reddening face. At all. “And your hair is so pretty!” One of the brunet’s hands drifted into silver strands, visibly marveling the way they caught the light. Riku, for all his obvious embarrassment over being pawed at, also refused to step away. 

 

Kairi covered her giggle with her mouth. This  _ had _ to be the Sora from the moment he realized he might like Riku as more than just a friend. 

 

And apparently had no inhibitions about that. 

 

“Huh? Oh... How’d you get here, Kairi?” Sora tilted his head at her. “And... did you do something to your hair?”

 

Now Kairi really couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Don’t worry about it Sora... I’m sure Riku will fill you in...” 

 

Riku glared at her, but she waved at him and walked over to where Leon, Aerith, Yuffie and a blonde she didn’t know were standing next to a house with cute shutters and a nice garden. “Uh...So...”

 

“What’s wrong with Sora?” The blonde asked, straight to the point.

 

“He’s acting like he doesn’t know where he is...” Leon added, “Or that the world got restored.”

 

“Yeah... that’s...” Kairi let out a sigh. “So... when was the last time you talked to Sora?”

 

“He wrote a letter before the mark of mastery exam.” Aerith said, “We haven’t heard from him since.” 

 

“Oh...” Kairi trailed off. 

 

This... wasn’t gonna be easy. 

 

She looked back at where Sora was still talking to his best friend, his grin bright and staring at the older boy like Riku had hung the stars themselves. 

 

They were so lucky she loved them. 

 

“Well... it kinda started with the Mark of Mastery exam....but it also kinda started nearly twelve years ago...”

 

_ \--- Ven & Roxas, Neverland --- _

 

 

“So... I don’t think we ever... officially introduced ourselves?”

 

“Hmm... probably not?” 

 

The two blondes looked at each other, then turned away laughing. 

 

“It’s strange, but I feel kinda like I already know you...” Ven said, Roxas nodding in agreement. 

 

“A bit yeah...” Roxas poked at his clothes. “We even have the same taste in clothes.”

 

“Excellent taste then?”

 

Roxas laughed and lightly shoved Ven, “C’mon, we’re on a mission...”

 

“Right...” Ven glanced around the world, recognizing the landscape and sky. “You ever been here?”

 

“Yeah... I met this... fairy?” Roxas pinched his finger and thumb together as if trying to show the size. “She showed Ax...er... Lea and I how to fly.”

 

“Tinkerbell?” Ven questioned. “Wore a green dress?”

 

“Um... yeah!” Roxas laughed, “Lea didn’t trust me at first when I said we could fly. It took him a minute...”

 

“I’m sure he trusted you. He just might not have trusted himself!” Ven felt sure about that. 

 

“Hmm maybe...” Roxas sighed then slowed down to close his eyes. “I know... Demyx said to follow our hearts. And that led us here. But...” the blonde shrugged. “I’m not sure where to go from here...” 

 

“We could check in with Peter Pan and...,” Ven trailed off when a bright gold light emerged from the treeline, speeding past them. “Tinkerbell?” 

 

Tinkerbell turned back to look at them, tilted her tiny head and then flew back to Ventus, circling his head, then doing the same to Roxas. 

 

“I...think she’s confused why she’s seeing double,” Roxas guessed, holding his hands out so she could settle in them. “Sorry, Tink... I’m Roxas, and you met Ventus a long time ago.” 

 

She still looked a bit confused, but then her wings fluttered and she grabbed onto a bit of Roxas’s hair, pulling him back towards the direction she came from. 

 

“Huh?” Roxas turned, “What’s wrong? Do you need us to go check on something?”

 

Tink nodded and tugged again, flying over to Ven to do the same to him. 

 

“Okay, okay!” Ven chuckled, “We’re coming. Promise.”

 

She chimed a response and sped off, leading them over the lagoon and pathways until they he and Roxas were standing in front of the odd set of caves that resembled a skull. The inside seemed darker than Ven vaguely remembered, though he also remembered that he hadn’t had the time to visit the island the first time around. 

 

“This place is kinda... spooky.” Roxas murmured, Ven nodding in agreement. “Tink, maybe you should head back to Peter, just in case... Maybe get him for back up?”

 

Tink nodded and flew off. 

 

The chattering grew louder as they approached, sending a shiver up Ven’s spine. It sounded familiar but he couldn’t quite--

 

“Oh, I don’t think you’re gonna want this one...” A voice behind them drawled, “He might be a little dark for your tastes...” 

 

Ven felt his heart drop at the voice, recognizing it instantly and he flipped around, blade already in hand. Roxas was startled, but more confused by the sudden voice and turned around as well, summoning his keyblade as a precaution. 

 

Ven squinted, knowing what he heard but he couldn’t quite-- there! In the shade of the rocks he could just see the faintest outline of someone leaning against the rock, something that was half mirage, half shadow. 

 

“So, I see Venty-wenty got himself a lookalike as well...” The shadow figure laughed without much humor and stepped away from the wall, his features shifting till they became distinct and focused. Much like the last time Ven had seen the boy, his helmet was half off, revealing a dark head of wild hair and one golden eye. 

 

“What... but he looks like--” Roxas was cut off when Ven held an arm out in front of him. 

 

“What do you want, Vanitas?”

 

“Calm down, brother...” Vanitas huffed, “I just thought, with your little scavenger hunt, that you might want to leave this one alone. Surely your friend doesn’t want this piece back....”

 

What piece?

 

Ven glanced around the corner to see what Vanitas was talking about. 

 

Hidden within the depths of the cave were two glowing yellow eyes, the shadows around them deepening and shifting. Then the shadows moved, and for a second, Ven could see Sora’s outline clearly, before he crouched again and melded in with the shadows. 

 

“Anti-Sora...” Roxas murmured. “I... only vaguely felt this happening. Usually only when Sora was desperate.”

 

“Desperation brings panic and panic brings darkness...” Vanitas huffed. “Of course, it saved his life in a pinch or two... but I understand if you don’t want him back...” 

 

“No, we’re taking him too,” Ven resolved, though he wasn’t sure yet how they were gonna get the shadow figure on a gummiship. “Weren’t you the one who said that light and dark were two halves of a whole? Brothers in a way?”

 

“Hmm...” Vanitas hummed nonchalantly. “I did... But you seemed rather adversed to the idea.”

 

“I know people need light and dark. That’s not what I was adverse to...” Ven admitted, “I was more adverse to the idea that  _ you _ needed to be that darkness.”

 

“Ah, but like I said, we’re like brothers...I was made from your darkness.”

 

“But I still have my own now. Why can’t you just  _ share _ my light?” Ven huffed. 

 

That kept Vanitas quiet for a moment. Long enough that when Ven turned around, he found Roxas already approaching the twitchy anti-Sora, keyblade still in hand but relaxed. 

 

“Hey there, Sora... It’s okay...” Roxas approached slowly, like one would to a wounded animal. “Shh... It’s okay... I know you’re scared. And probably in pain. I know... but we’re gonna make it better...”

 

Anti-Sora chittered and twitched, looking like he wanted to dart away at any moment. But soon he stood still long enough for Roxas wrap an arm around him, then another, pulling the shadowy figure to his chest. 

 

“I know...” Roxas repeated, “We’ll fix you. I promise...”

 

There was just a bit more chittering before the Anti-Sora fell silent and nuzzled into Roxas’s embrace. 

 

“If we can accept Sora’s darkness, we can accept yours too...” Ven whispered, entering the cavern as well and holding a hand out for Sora to examine. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Vanitas following him. 

 

The dark haired boy seemed to grow more solid inside the darkened cave, drawing on the shadows to give himself form. The shadowy Sora seemed to gravitate towards him most, acting more and more like an odd, overgrown puppy as he examined Vanitas and deemed him acceptable. Vanitas’s helmet felt away completely till both golden eyes were practically glowing in the darkness. 

 

“If part of you was formed when I made contact with Sora, then there’s a bit of Sora in you too. A bit of light to compliment all the darkness,” Ven mused, “We wouldn’t mind, if you wanted to stand with us, even if it’s mostly from the shadows.”

 

“Hmph...” Vanitas scoffed, and the shadow Sora began to twitch and shiver again. 

 

_ A bit like a unversed... _ Ven thought. 

 

He remembered Roxas’s words, about Sora being sad and in pain. Vanitas probably felt the same...

 

“Just think on it...” Ven offered. “We can do it. Riku brought back his own darkness... kinda... and I’m sure the others would offer you the same chance.”  _ If not, I can persuade them.  _

 

“Yeah, you can go to school with us!” Roxas offered. “Or train with Sora and Riku...” Shadow Sora tilted his head at his name and Roxas ran a comforting hand down the boy’s back. “Yeah, I said your name. Do you wanna come with us to rejoin the rest of you?”

 

Sora twitched and pawed at the ground but eventually nodded. 

 

Vanitas let out a huff and looked away. “So... you really think you can accept it?” With that, he faded away, leaving behind a tiny creature that twitched and shivered along with Sora. 

 

“What’s that?” Roxas questioned.

 

“An unversed.” Ven only hesitated for a second before picking the Flood up. It pawed and scratched, but didn’t harm him too much. “And a second chance... I think.” 

 

_ \--- Xion, Isa, & Lea, Twilight Town --- _

 

 

“So... we checked the mansion...” Lea mused, crossing his hands behind his head. “And the train station, and the top of the train station, and the sandlot.”

 

“Maybe we just shouldn’t follow your directions anymore...” Isa muttered, “You just keep thinking of places Roxas would go...” 

 

Xion listened to them bicker for a moment, then tuned them out to glance around again.  _ This place has changed so much...  _ she thought to herself. Some things matched what she could remember, but others... It was like a whole new town. 

 

“You got any ideas, Xion?” Lea asked, swinging an arm around her shoulders. 

 

Xion thought, then glanced around. “What about that?” She pointed at a store front that had changed drastically from what she had last remembered. “Le Grande Bistro? We’ve checked all the places we remember...so... why not check out a place we don’t?”

 

Lea shrugged. “Worth a shot, I suppose?”

 

“At least we can get food out of it?”

 

They had barely made it inside when they were stopped by a duck Xion didn’t recognize, but Lea and Isa clearly did. “Mr. McDuck!?”

 

“Ah, laddies...” the duck waved at them, “My, have you grown!” 

 

“Uh...” Lea shared a look with Isa and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah... it’s been a while... I guess?”

 

“About twelve years I think...” The duck crossed his... wings? Xion was never sure what to call it when Donald did it. “What have you two been up to all these years...”

 

“Oh, uh well...”

 

“Staying out of trouble,” Isa said. 

 

“More like getting into it...” Lea muttered back. 

 

The duck laughed, “And what brings you to this side of town?”

 

Oh! Xion could answer this one. “Actually we’re looking for someone. Have you seen a boy called Sora?”

 

“Ah, lassie, you know Sora, do ye?” The duck laughed. “If you know him, why are you hanging out with these ruffians?” Despite the harsh words, it was clear the duck was just teasing. 

 

“Ruffians?” Lea protested. 

 

“Oh, they’re not rough!” Xion shook her head, “They’re my very best friends. And so is Sora. Have you seen him?”

 

The duck chuckled again, “As a matter of fact, I have, lassie. He’s in the back, helping out my little chef. I can lead you back there in just a second, if you’d like.”

 

She bowed politely, “Thank you, sir.” 

 

“Oh, it’s just Mr. McDuck, lassie...” With that, he waddled off to a different table to make some quick conversation. 

 

“Truely... am I your friend as well?”

 

Xion blinked, then looked up at Isa. She had said the words without really thinking them, more used to being in the company of Lea and Roxas. But when she thought about the past month, Isa slowly integrating himself in their group as well-- “Of course...” She trailed off, putting a finger to her face in thought. “But... only if you promise to never make me fill out a mission report again...”

 

Isa blinked in shock, then let out a loud laugh. “Deal...”

 

Xion grinned, thinking that Isa sounded nice when he laughed. He kinda reminded her of a quieter version of Lea. 

 

The duck waddled back, waving for them all to follow him through a set of swinging double doors that must have led to the kitchens. Lea and Isa entered first, then Mr. McDuck turned back to Xion. “I’ll leave you guys to talk. Still gotta make sure the customers are happy!” 

 

Xion, again, bowed politely to the duck and stepped inside what had to be the kitchen, nearly running into Isa’s back. “Ow! Guys!” She tried to hop up to see above them, but since that didn’t work she had to squeeze her way around. “What the--” She stopped in shock as well at the sight in front of her. 

 

Sora was chopping vegetables as fast as he could, stopping every few seconds to stir something simmering in a pot. He barely glanced up, sending them a confused look, before it seemed he was jerked around to continue working. “Ow! Stop that! I get it!”

 

Xion blinked in confusion, then looked up at something moving in Sora’s hair. 

 

Was that...  _ a rat? _

 

The rat seemed to be... controlling Sora somehow through the brunet’s hair, making chopping and stirring motions in conjunction with Sora working. 

 

“What’s... going on?”

 

Finally, Sora chopped the last vegetable and the rat seemed to let up on the controls. The brunet gave a shy wave. “Hi... are you guys friends of Mr. McDuck? He doesn’t let many people back here.”

 

“We’re uh...” Xion was at a loss for words. The little Sora they had found resting on the clocktower earlier that day had been young enough to just call her Kairi and accept that they were gonna take him somewhere safe. This one was older though. She kinda thought she recognized the outfit. It was the same one she could remember the real Sora wearing in her stolen memories. But this boy was also taller, not quite squeezing into those clothes so well. 

 

“This must be Sora from when he first woke up in the Mansion...” Isa murmured quietly as the rat put Sora back to work, this time seasoning whatever was simmering in the pot. 

 

“Oh...” Xion wondered how’d they would convince this Sora to come with them. 

 

“We’re actually friends with Donald and Goofy!” Lea said, all smiles. “And we’re here to take you back to them!” 

 

“Really?!” Sora let out huge grin that they could barely see since he was half buried in steam. “That’s great! I was wondering where they were.... I woke up in that strange place all by myself, I almost thought...” He trailed off, though Xion could guess what he had thought. 

 

“They wouldn't abandon you...” she reassured. “They are sorry that can’t be here...” 

 

“That’s okay!” Sora grinned. “I’ll be ready in just a second.” He made a motion to take off the apron he was wearing, but the rat on his head firmly stopped him and made him turn around. “Hey... I uh... guess I gotta finish my shift first.”

 

“That’s fine...” Isa said, still looking like he was a little shocked over the whole scenario. “We can wait...”

 

The rat used Sora’s hand to make a sort of shooing motion, then paused for a second, motioning for them to come back in. He pointed at the other aprons on the wall. 

 

“Oh uh...” Sora frowned. “I guess he wants you guys to help out too...” 

 

“That’s not such a good idea...” Isa muttered. “Lea and fire don’t tend to mix well.”

 

“Or they mix a little too well...” Xion added, sharing a look with Isa and bursting into chuckles. 

 

“Hardy har...” Lea muttered, and threw on an apron just to prove them wrong. “What first?”

 

The rat mimed the jobs he needed the three of them to do. Lea was kept far away from any source of flame while Xion was set to dicing up more vegetables for a dish she had never heard of before. Isa manned the pots and pans cooking on the stove. Things were going smoothly till the rat tried to use Sora to reach something on a top shelf. 

 

“Sorry little chef!” Sora sighed, still stretching up, but the pot the rat wanted was just out of reach. “I’m stretching as much as I can!” 

 

Finally, the rat let up and seemed to think for a moment before scurrying down Sora’s clothes and dropping to the floor. Xion watched as he seemed to deliberate for a second between Isa and Lea, before scurrying up the redhead’s clothes and making for his hair. 

 

“What the--” Lea was jerked around and marched towards the same shelf Sora had just been at. “Hey! Stop that!” 

 

The rat had other ideas though and used Lea’s height to reach for the pan. 

 

Xion burst out laughing, immediately grabbing her phone. 

 

“Oh no!” Lea saw her point the phone at him. “You are  _ not _ recording this.”

 

“Make sure to show Roxas,” Isa muttered, still stirring a pot on the stove. 

 

“I’m gonna send it to him...” Xion chuckled, her phone screen still catching the antics as Little Chef seemed to deem Lea an appropriate substitute for Sora and used his body to chop the next set of vegetables. 

 

“You two...” Lea grumbled. “I should have known this would happen...” 

 

“Who’s Roxas?” Sora asked, his head tilted. 

 

The innocent question sobered up the other three from their amusement. Right, they still had a job to do. Xion offered up a grin. 

 

“He’s someone who’s been waiting to meet you for a very long time.” 

  
  


_ \--- Aqua & Terra, Olympus --- _

 

 

“Hey! This is  _ not _ a babysitting service!” 

 

Aqua turned around, startled at the sound of Phil’s voice. She became even more confused when it appeared that the satyr was talking to her. “Excuse me?”

 

“That little spiky haired brunet that Meg’s been babying all day. Ain’t he yours?” The satyr glared up at her and Terra. 

 

With a blush, Aqua suddenly realized what he meant. He thought that she...and Terra-- “No!” She shouted, then a little quieter repeated. “No, no. Definitely not our kid...” She fought the blush and refused to look anywhere near Terra. 

 

“Huh.” Instead of apologetic, the satyr looked thoughtful. “Hmm...at first I thought he might have been the older spiky haired kid’s, but that kid’s still too young for kids... isn’t he?” The satyr looked up at Terra like he’d know what the heck Phil was talking about, but Terra just held his hands up in defense. 

 

Finally, after studying the two for a moment, the satyr shrugged. “Whatever. Sorry. Thought he might have been with you since he just appeared wearing strange clothes like you two. But what do I know, eh?” He started walking off. “But I swear the contenders are just getting younger and younger...”

 

“You’re just getting older Phil!” Another voice called out with a chuckle, and suddenly Aqua was face to face with someone she also recognized, though--

 

“Hercules?” She questioned, tilting her head up. He  _ looked _ like the boy she had met... but the boy had grown up. 

 

Way up. And out. Did his muscles have muscles?

 

She stole a quick glance at Terra, only to quickly turn away, attempting to hide a chuckle. Terra had never been one to really... preen. He liked being physically strong, but he also didn’t always like how he tended to tower over everyone else. Ven called him intimidating once and Terra had sulked all day. 

 

Now though... with a straight back and the obvious attempt to look bigger... Terra was definitely trying to show off. She bit back another chuckle and grinned at Hercules. “It’s been so long, I’m sure you don’t--”

 

“Aqua, right?” Herc offered a grin and a hand, “It hasn’t been that long.” He chuckled a bit. “How have you been?”

 

“Great,” she felt her grin fade a bit, but she shook his hand, feeling the strong but gentle grip. Bit like Terra’s. “Well... better now than they had been...” 

 

“Good!” Herc nodded, then turned to Terra, “I... remember you, but I can’t quite--”

 

“Terra...” The brunet held out his hand, clasping Hercules’s. “We met very briefly. You encouraged me to enter the tournament.”

 

“That’s right!” Hercules beamed. “Actually, there’s one going on right now if you want to enter?”

 

“Sorry, but we’re on a bit of a mission...” Terra crossed his arms in thought. “Actually... that...er... goat guy?”

 

“Satyr.” Aqua and Hercules corrected in unison. 

 

“...right...” Terra shook his head. “He mentioned a spiky haired brunet. That would be our friend--”

 

“Sora,” Herc nodded, “Of course. He’s been coming here off and on for years. Actually I...” the man blushed a bit. “I kinda thought he might have been your guys’s kid or something. He wielded a key shaped blade too... and the hair.”

 

Aqua watched as Terra’s hand subconsciously went to his hair, trying to flatten it, and she again held back a chuckle. “Definitely no kids here,” she explained. “But, we’re still looking for him... do you mind--”

 

“Well... he entered the tournament so...” He trailed off, looking at both of them expectantly. “It’s a charity tournament if that helps?”

 

Aqua laughed, and even Terra joined in. Then they shared a glance, having a silent conversation, so much like old times.

 

“I’ll enter the tournament and find that Sora...” Terra offered.

 

“I’ll go see if the young one Phil was talking about is another version...” Aqua finished, then turned back to Hercules. “Phil mentioned that someone named Meg was babysitting...”

 

“Uh yeah...” Herc pointed at the stands. “That was the other thing I was gonna ask. Phil and I know about the other worlds and stuff... Did something happen to Sora? He’s a bit... younger than I last remember...”

 

“I’ll explain...” Terra said, walking with Hercules over to where the sign ups were, leaving Aqua free to head over to the stands. 

 

She walked up slowly, scanning each row.

 

“Go, Herkuyees!”

 

“Not yet, Sora...” A female voice laughed. 

 

Aqua gasped, scanning the crowd to pinpoint where the voices had come from. A woman in a long purple dress was holding a squirming brunet in her lap. Aqua chuckled and ran up the last couple of rows, quickly maneuvering around people so she could take a seat next to the woman. “Sorry, but I’m afraid that’s my friend you got there... though he’s been...uh...”

 

“Miniaturized?” The woman asked dryly, chuckling when Sora bounced in her lap, “He’s coming, little one...”

 

“Herc, Herc, Herc!” Sora chanted eagerly. 

 

“And who else are we cheering for?”

 

“Big me! Big me! Big me!” 

 

Aqua laughed. This Sora appeared to be even younger than the one who had appeared in the great hall this morning. “Have you been busy, Sora?”

 

“Cheer!” He answered, then his attention was on the arena in front of them, cheering excitedly when someone entered. “Big me!” 

 

Aqua looked down, finding another brunet, with an even more distinct fringe of spiky hair. He wielded the simpler key she had seen her Sora wield, with a silver blade and golden hilt. Across the field, several creatures materialized from dark shadows, and Aqua summoned her keyblade on instinct. 

 

“Ahh... you carry one too then?” The woman asked, then laid a hand on her arm. “Don’t worry about it though. Sora can handle it.”

 

“Yeah, I can handle it!” Little Sora repeated, then shoved a handful of what looked like popcorn into his mouth. 

 

Aqua chuckled lightly, but sobered up when a bell dinged and the match started. “But those creatures--”

 

“You don’t think your friend can handle them on his own?” The woman asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

Aqua huffed, but then relaxed. Sora could handle them. She just had to trust that. 

 

Sure enough, Sora managed to dispatch the creatures easily, winning the round. Toddler Sora cheered excitedly, bouncing enough on the woman’s lap that she flinched a bit. 

 

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Aqua suddenly realized that she had rudely forgotten to introduce herself. “I can take him off your hands if you’d like. My name is Aqua.” 

 

“Ahh... Herc’s mentioned you once or twice...” The woman smiled. “My name’s Megara... but my friends call me Meg.” She then looked down at the bouncing ball of energy. “And... if you wouldn’t mind? I promised Herc I’d keep an eye on him, and for the most part he’s fine, he’s just a little...”

 

“Excitable?” Aqua questioned. She could remember Sora being over eager in everything. She held out her arms and Sora crawled up into her lap with very little fuss. “Now, how’d you get all the way out here, little Sora?”

 

“I dunno...” The toddler answered, sticking his thumb in his mouth. Definitely younger than the one from this morning. “Where’s Riku?” He looked up at her expectantly. 

 

“Uh well...” Aqua fumbled for an answer, finally deciding to go with the truth. “He’s looking for more parts of you. So you can be put back together...”

 

“I fell apart?” He blinked at the information, then shrugged. “It’s okay. Riku will put me back together.”

 

“He sure will...” Aqua agreed. If nothing else, she knew that the boy would probably die trying. 

 

So much like Terra in that respect. 

 

They watched a few more fights, generally one of the human fighters against the creatures, though it was clear that only Hercules, Sora, and Terra (once he made his debut to a roaring crowd) could dispatch the creatures with ease. 

 

Little Sora cheered through each one, all the way up till another bell rang and Meg said it was time for a break till the finals. 

 

“We can go talk with Herc and your friends.”

 

Aqua nodded, “Thank you again for keeping an eye on little Sora...” She picked up Sora when she stood, and he settled comfortably against her chest. 

 

Meg laughed. “It’s fine. It was good practice anyway...”

 

As she stood up, her dress fell oddly against her stomach, and with a start, Aqua realized the woman was pregnant. “Oh... congratulations!”

 

“Thanks...” Meg grinned, and led them down the stairs to the behind the scenes area. “I wasn’t sure about having any at first... I had done some... terrible things in my past.”

 

“What changed your mind?” Aqua wondered. 

 

“Hercules, of course...” Meg chuckled a little. “He said that... the things that happened made me who I was today, and that any kid would be honored to have me as a mother...” She shared a grin with Aqua. “He had so much confidence in me, that I guess I felt confident enough myself to at least try.” 

 

Aqua smiled back. “I’m glad... I’m not sure I’ll ever want kids...” When she was young, it was all about focusing on becoming a master. Then she could travel and see the worlds as part of her duties. She’d have to take on an apprentice some day... but then after that?

 

Well... She wasn’t sure if kids were in her future. She wasn’t there yet. 

 

Just...  _ definitely _ not now. Even if the cute toddler Sora was making her somewhat rethink that. 

 

“Hi mini-me!” An older Sora’s voice called out, and the spiky haired contender ran over, tickling toddler Sora till they were both giggling with amusement. 

 

“Okay,” Terra called out also appearing. “We made it to half time. Donald and Goofy are waiting for you...”

 

“Aww c’mon...” Sora pouted. “Three more matches!”

 

“No more matches.” Terra countered. 

 

“One more match!”

 

“You said that five matches ago.” Terra placed a hand on the older Sora’s shoulder, steering him out of the arena. “I told you half time, and now it’s half time.”

 

“Awww....” Sora groaned, then turned to look at Phil. “Sorry! I gotta go!”

 

“Go?!” The satyr called out, “Aw c’mon! You can’t default now! The matches were just getting good...”

 

“Let it go, Phil...” Hercules chided. “They got somewhere important to be. Besides, these are for charity. There’s no real tournament.” 

 

“Well, yeah, but you can’t expect the sponsors to donate if there’s no one good to watch. Besides you, Herc.”

 

“I’m sure we’ll manage somehow.” 

 

Hercules then turned to Aqua and Terra, wrapping an arm around Meg as he did so. “Thanks for coming around! You’ll have to come back when the city’s all fixed. We can have a rematch then!”

 

“You’re on!” Sora and Aqua called out in unison, Terra laughing when they turned to look at each other in confusion. 

 

They waved and then turned to head back to where Terra had parked the gummiship. Toddler Sora was falling more and more asleep with every step, and even older Sora looked worse for wear, nearly sleepwalking into Terra’s back. 

 

“C’mon big guy,” Terra said kneeling down and motioning for Sora to get on his back. “We won’t get very far if you fall asleep where you stand.”

 

“I’m not...” Sora yawned, “tired.” But he only hesitated for a moment longer, then let his keyblade disappear and climbed onto Terra’s back. 

 

The older brunet made sure he was situated before standing again. Sora fell asleep before Terra even made ten steps, snoring softly against the taller man’s shoulder. 

 

Aqua chuckled, reaching out to smooth Sora’ hair, much like she had often done with Ven. “So what’d you tell him?”

 

“Just that we were friends with Donald and Goofy and they were looking for him,” Terra huffed, walking with ease despite the burden. “And you?”

 

Aqua shrugged. “Just the truth, that we were looking to put him back together again. He didn’t seem that concerned. Especially when I mentioned that Riku was leading the charge.”

 

Terra chuckled softly, growing louder when the older Sora shifted at the sound of his friend’s name. 

 

“R’ku? R’ku hr’re?” He mumbled, still mostly asleep. 

 

Aqua chuckled softly and smoothed Sora’s hair again. “He’ll be here when you wake up, okay?”

 

“...’kay...” Sora fell back asleep. 

 

Aqua looked down at the toddler Sora still sleeping in her arms. She remembered what it was like to have that much faith in a person. She wondered when she had lost it. 

 

She looked up at Terra, meeting his gaze. 

 

Whenever that was didn’t matter. What mattered now was that she would never lose that faith again. 

  
  


_ \--- Goofy, Donald, & Mickey, Monstropolis --- _

 

 

 

“It’s too bad you gotta take him home...” Mike said, leading them down the laugh floor. Through several other doors, Goofy could easily hear the sounds of laughter. Monsters of every size and shape were laughing as well, sharing popular jokes or outfits that got the kids giggling nonstop. 

 

“He’s really been popular with the little ones, and he doesn’t seem to scare the infants like some do,” Mike continued, “But hopefully he can come back?” One eyeball looked up hopefully. 

 

“We’ll be sure to let him, uh... have a vacation from the extermination job!” Goofy explained. Donald nodded, while it seemed like Mickey was still getting used to all the extra fur... and appendages. 

 

“Uh huh...” Mike didn’t look like he took the ‘extermination’ excuse as well as he had when they first arrived in this world. “Well... he should be coming back any min--”

 

Sora burst through a doorway before Mike could finish, still giggling at his own joke. From just beyond the door, they could hear the sounds of two children laughing hysterically, the canister attached to the door filling up quickly. Mike detached it before it could overfill. 

 

“Donald!” Sora cried out, running towards them. “Goofy! Where have you guys been?”

 

“Where have we been?” Donald protested, “Where have you been, getting yourself scatt--” Goofy quickly cut the duck off. They still weren’t sure how Sora would take the news that he had been scattered across the different worlds, and the three of them had decided to just not mention it. 

 

Too bad Donald’s temper tended to make him forget things like that. 

 

“Gosh, Sora,” Mickey said, his words a little muffled by the fangs in this mouth. “We were worried about you! Thought you might have gotten lost!”

 

“Huh?” Sora tilted his head, then blinked. “Mickey?”

 

At the mouse’s nod, Sora’s grin brightened. “Is Riku with you?”

 

Mickey let out a sigh and shook his head, “No sorry. It’s just us.”

 

“Aww...” Sora sighed, “I really wanted to show him this world. And I wanted to see what kind of monster he’d be. Probably wouldn’t be as funny as me though!”

 

“I don’t think anyone is as funny looking as you...” Donald said, laughing when Sora protested. 

 

“Donald! That’s not what I meant!” 

 

Donald laughed and dodged Sora’s attempts to grab him, ducking between Goofy’s legs. 

 

“Woah, save the antics for the job, please!” Mike protested, lifting the laugh canister out of the way of the two fighting. 

 

Goofy chuckled. “Thanks for keeping an eye on him.”

 

“Hey, like I said, it wasn’t a problem. He’s done a good job! Just wish Sully could be here too, but he took a vacation for a bit.”

 

“Well, we’ll be sure to be back soon!” Sora grinned, “Maybe next time we can play with Boo too!”

 

“It’s a deal!” Mike agreed. 

 

On their way back to the gummiship, Sora filled them all in with what he had been doing. 

 

“I just wish Riku could have been there!” Sora grinned, glancing down at Mickey. “Do you think after the battle with Xehanort is over, Riku and I can come back?”

 

Mickey looked hesitant, clearly not sure whether to tell Sora about the war’s end or about his best friend’s desperate search for him, finally settling on: “I’m sure he’ll love that Sora. He really misses you too.” 

 

Sora’s smile brightened even more and Goofy was sure they’d be able to fuel the gummi ship up for weeks on that smile alone. 

 

_ \--- Rikuto & Namine, Land of Departure --- _

 

“I’m not sure why they thought to send us here,” Rikuto muttered, kicking the yellow, nearly gold colored floor. So different from the white hallways of his memory. “It’s not like anything is the same.”

 

“Maybe it’s more... we can see things with fresher eyes?” Namine blinked, crossing her hands in front of her like usual, her dress shifting different colors in the light refracted from the large stained glass window of the great hall. “Or... I dunno. Ienzo had a theory that Sora may appear differently to different people depending on their connection to him...”

 

Rikuto huffed and sighed. “In that case, shouldn’t the  _ real _ Riku be here?” 

 

“Riku never met Sora in this place,” Namine let out a sigh as well. “And... you know that no one thinks of him as any more real than you... right? You’re the only one who does that.”

 

“You think it.”

 

“Not I don’t!” She immediately protested. 

 

“You thought it,” he amended, a little surprised to find her shaking her head. 

 

“No. And stop telling me what I think!” Her voice echoed around the empty hall. 

 

Rikuto took a step back in shock, then looked down, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sorry... That was wrong.”

 

“Yes. It was,” she agreed, then seemed to calm down. “I’m sorry for shouting. But I didn’t like it when Marluxia and Larxene told me what to think and feel, and I’m not gonna take it from my friends either.”  

 

Rikuto nodded, “Yeah... I... can understand that.” He really did. Afterall, what he felt for Namine was something implanted in him. Something that someone told Namine to make him feel.  

 

“Yes... I suppose you can...” Namine said, then quickly looked away. “I’m... sorry for that too.”

 

“I forgive you,” Rikuto said quickly, automatically. It wasn’t a matter of debate really. 

 

“Are you... just saying that because of the fake memories that I gave you. The feelings that--”

 

“No,” Rikuto turned to look her in the eye, something that he had been avoiding if he was truthful with himself. “I really forgive you. Even... even if part of me wasn’t still... kind of half in love with you...” He hoped his face wasn’t that red. “I would still forgive you. You were just... doing what it took to survive in that environment. I blame Larxene, and Vexen. And even Lea still... a little bit. But not you.” _ Never you. _

 

Namine seemed to be in shock for a little bit, but then a grin overtook her features, slowly growing into a proper smile. Rikuto felt his heart beat faster, his palms sweat, and his face heat up.  

 

“Thank you, Rikuto.”

 

He nodded once, and then quickly looked away, fighting down the blush. “Anyway...so... Sora gathering?” He glanced around, “Does  _ anything _ look familiar?”

 

“Maybe...” She trailed off and when Rikuto turned to look back, she had her eyes closed. “It’s not about looking, but more about... feeling? When I close my eyes... the place feels familiar.” She opened her eyes and turned to the silver haired boy. “You try...”

 

Rikuto raised an eyebrow, but closed his eyes. 

 

It took him a minute, but he thought he understood what Namine said. Though the surroundings were different, and the presence wasn’t nearly as... deceptive, he could feel Castle Oblivion just below the surface of The Land of Departure. “Oh...”

 

“Try reaching out with your heart...” Came Namine’s quiet voice.

 

He did so, startled to find something calling back, though... almost confused. Like it wasn’t sure if it was calling the right person. “Sora?” He opened his eyes. Now that he knew what to feel, he was pretty sure he knew where he was supposed to go. “This....” He frowned, reaching out again, then nodded. “Yeah, this way.”

 

They ran down a set of stairs, then through a hallway, the calling in Rikuto’s heart fading a bit, but he kinda knew where it came from. Finally, he opened a door, leading into a bedroom of sorts, covered in books and mementos from different travels. Going by the color scheme, Rikuto had a guess that it was Ven’s room. 

 

But the boy currently sleeping on the bed was  _ not _ Ven. 

 

“Sora!” Namine called out, but Rikuto quickly shushed her. 

 

“I think... this might be the Sora that went to sleep,” Rikuto guessed, “It might be easier not to wake him.”

 

Namine nodded, and they both crept a bit closer. 

 

Rikuto couldn’t help the fond grin that crossed his features, nor the fond laugh. “Look at him... sleeping like nothing’s wrong...” He shared a grin with Namine, who let out a small giggle. 

 

“It’s...” She trailed off, avoiding his gaze. “Nevermind.”

 

He frowned, tilting his head. He never wanted her to feel like she always had to walk on eggshells around him. “What were you going to say?”

 

“Hmm...” She seemed to look for a way to phrase it. “What you just said. About Sora... Riku said nearly the same thing when he saw Sora asleep in the pod. I guess... I never really thought of you as fake or real. Just...”

 

“An imitation?” he huffed. 

 

“A different version,” She corrected. “I never really saw that as good or bad. Just... different.” 

 

She ran a hand through Sora’s hair, giggling when he seemed to huff out a mumbled “Kairi...”

 

“I always wondered...” she began. “When Vexen gave me that data to... to rewrite your memories. There was one thing I couldn’t change: Riku’s connection to Sora. I wondered if those memories...”

 

“Yeah.... I still felt all that too...” He blushed, pulling back from where he realized that he had also been running a gentle hand through Sora’s hair. Those feelings weren’t really his as well, though he knew that part of him, the part formed from real memories was fond of the brunet. But not-- “I remember... being confused. Because part of me felt that Sora should have been a rival. Nothing more. And then there was this huge other part that I couldn’t shake. He was in my heart and I couldn’t get him to leave.” 

 

He let out a short huff and turned to look back at Namine. “I kind of hated him for that, because that other part kept saying that the only person who should have been there...was you.” 

 

“I’m sorry...” She said again, and Rikuto was almost tired of hearing the words. At least... in this context. “I’m just... I’m sorry that you still have those fake memories. I’m sorry that they make you feel things that you... may not want to feel.”

 

“I’m glad I have them though,” he protested. “I meant what I said, back then. Even if they’re just fake memories, they’re still mine.” He looked at her. “I’ll always protect you, and that’s a promise I can make for real now.” He held out his hand. 

 

She glanced down at it, then slowly, hesitantly, shook her head. “No... I don’t want  _ anyone _ to feel like they have to protect me. And... I’m sorry, but I don’t feel the same way that I think you still do about me and I--” She cut herself off, embarrassed, though Rikuto felt that she shouldn’t have a reason to be. 

 

“As a friend then?” He questioned, raising his hand again. 

 

Namine looked up, then nodded. “Yeah...” She put her smaller hand in his and shook it with a grip that gradually got firmer and more confident. “Okay!”

 

“Great!” He grinned, then turned to the problem at hand. Trying to get a sleeping Sora back to the gummiship. “Now... How can we--”

 

“Riku carried him across his back when we had to move the pod to the mansion...” Namine suggested. 

 

Rikuto nodded, “Then... help me load him up?”

 

Between the two of them, they managed to get Sora situated, the brunet barely flinching at the movements, only huffing out one word when they got him balanced. “R’ku?”

 

Rikuto nearly flinched at the name, but then chuckled. “Not quite. But we’re taking you to him.”

 

“Mm.... kay...” Sora drifted right back to sleep. 

 

Namine caught his eye and they both let out a laugh. Maybe the fake memories were still a bit of a wall between them, but Rikuto hoped that, with the creation of new memories, that wall will fade and disappear. It may not mean that they’d always be together... not in the way he may have originally hoped. But...it would be nice to have a real friend.

 

_ \--- Kairi, Radiant Garden Castle --- _

 

Kairi ran a hand down the dusty bannister. The castle was so different than the last time she had been here, running from the horde of heartless Riku had warned them about. Scared and so confused what was going on. Believing with all her heart that Sora wasn’t just...  _ gone.  _

She had offered to run through the castle while Riku, Donald, and Goofy worked out more ideas to where there would be more Soras. Different worlds and forms, maybe even multiple Soras in one world. 

It would take time. 

She wished she had done more training earlier when Merlin had her and Lea in the world where time stood still. Maybe then she could have done...something when Xemnas had grabbed her. Of course, now without the panic distracting her, she realized she could have dropped her keyblade into her free hand and swung. Cast some magic. Or even just kick the guy in the knee.  _ Something!  _

Riku had held her when he found her crying one day shortly after her own return, blaming herself for the loss of Sora. 

_ “It’s not your fault Kai...” He murmured, “He would have done the same for any one of us.” _

_ “I know...” Kairi sobbed. “But I said I’d protect him this time, too and I couldn’t... I didn’t do anything-- I just--” _

_ “Shh....” Riku hushed. “It’s not your fault...”  _

After her tears had run dry, he had told her that, in the heat of battle, even the best masters can forget things. 

Kairi hadn’t thought that it was a matter of her forgetting, it was a matter of her reflexes not being fast enough. So, instead of returning home, she put all of her focus into studying self defence, training with Aqua. Namine and Xion both joined in, none of them ever wanting to be kidnapped ever again. 

She turned the corner, finding herself in a very familiar entryway, though now the hall was brightened so much more than it had been. 

The now brightened hall sent a wave of nostalgia through her. She had been here before. And not just when she had protected the heartless Sora from the other shadows. There was something else...

She had told Aqua that her days from Radiant Garden were hazy, and they were. Most of them. The streets and gardens she could remember better, yet the castle was still foggy. She had been young, but it was more than that. It was more like part of her didn’t want to remember, so she blocked it out. 

It was getting harder to do so ever since coming the castle on a more regular basis. She would have to confront that part some day. Maybe discover what happened to the old woman she remembered. The one both Sora and Aqua had told her about. The grandmother with the story...

_ Chichi... chi... _

Kairi gasped, hearing the chattering behind her, summoning her keyblade with barely a thought. She couldn’t quite see anything--oh! A shadow lengthened and moved along the corridor. Kairi backed up, holding her keyblade out. “I know you’re there. Just show yourself!”

Slowly, as if figuring out how to do so, the Shadow emerged from the floor. It looked up at her, but made no move to attack. 

She approached wearily, not sure what she was dealing with. She had learned in the great heartless battle that shadows may look cute, but they could also overwhelm her if they called their friends. “I’m not scared of you!” 

Lea had laughed at her when they discovered that she talked constantly at her opponents. It was never enough to project her attacks, but it was humorous when she would yell at an enemy for whacking her. Of course, their enemies back then were Merlin’s furniture. It was a little less funny when she was shouting at heartless. 

Lea still laughed though. 

The Shadow in front of her twitched and shivered, even when Kairi reached out with her keyblade to poke it. The shadow didn’t even flinch, just cowered and still stared up at her with some kind of ...

Longing... 

Suddenly she felt a pang in her heart, resonating with the shadow in front of her. “Sora?” Quickly she dispersed her keyblade and opened her arms. The Shadow leapt right in, it’s tiny arms hugging her back. 

This must have been another version. The Sora who had sacrificed his heart to save her. And she would forever be grateful for that. 

“Sora... have you been looking for us the whole time?”

_ Chi..chichi.. _

She giggled at the answer. “You’re gonna be okay. Riku and the others are looking for more parts of you...” She then let out a sigh. “I wish... I wish that it could be just as simple as me believing in you and giving you a hug but...” She knew it wouldn’t work that way this time. 

“Let’s get you to Riku!” She cheered instead, holding Sora up like she would a puppy. “How much you wanna bet that he’ll still think you’re cute in this form?”

_ Chi...chichi?  _ The heartless tilted his head. 

“Of course Riku thinks you’re cute!” She laughed, turning to head back to the stairs that would lead her to the basement laboratory. “I hope when you’re whole again you both get your act together. I may have to smack you otherwise...”

_ Chichi...chichi! _ The heartless protested, much to her amusement. 

She continued to giggle as she made her way down the stairs. 

Recompleting Sora this time may not have been as easy as it had been in the past, but with all of them working together, it was impossible for them to lose the brunet for good. She would just have to keep reminding herself that. 

She would make sure to remind Riku too. She figured he might need the reassurance just as much as she did. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Data-Sora: Restoration is at....???%...wait... Riku... how do I figure a percent if we don't know the total?! 
> 
> I would add "Sora Search" notes here, but I don't think I have any for this chapter. Next two chapters have a few, but mostly because I'm adding character from Destiny Islands who are definitely missing Sora and _really want his return to the dinner table, effective immediately!!_ ;)


	3. Fantastic Soras and Where to Find Them, Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed to finish this a bit earlier than expected, yay!
> 
> So when I explained this fic to a friend, she wondered why I didn't title it _"Gotta catch em all"_? I told her it was because I'm a _totally_ serious writing writing a _totally_ serious fic with a _totally_ serious name. 
> 
> ...And because I didn't think of that. :D
> 
> Hope you enjoy the fic and hope my parental OCs don't offend anyone too much. I tried my best.

_\--Roxas & Riku, Toy Box--_

 

“Sora’s pictures really didn’t do this place justice.” Riku stated, shielding his eyes against the harsh fluorescent light to stare up at the top floors. “It’s gonna take us ages to search each floor...”

 

Roxas groaned at the thought. “We could split up?” _How can we even get up to those top floors though? We’re like... 8 inches tall._

 

He glanced back at Riku for any suggestions, only to find the silver haired boy staring at something else, his eyes slightly glazed over. The blonde frowned, “Riku?

 

Riku made no motion that he had heard Roxas, and cautiously the shorter boy summoned his keyblade, not sure what was going on. Was it some kind of possession? Then, the blonde became even more confused when he thought he saw a tear stream down from Riku’s eye. “Hey! I’m not Sora; I am _so_ not gonna deal if you start crying!”

 

Riku gasped, and shook his head, “Huh? Sorry. I just...” He huffed out a short laughed that would have fooled no one and tried to discreetly rub the tear stains away. “Anyway, we can get up there if we--”

 

“Uh, no...” Roxas let his keyblade despawn, “What was that? You were just... gone for a moment.”

 

“I was, uh... kinda lost in a memory.”

 

Roxas tilted his head, “You can get lost in memories?” He hadn’t heard of anything like that, but he wondered if it was like when he was back in the organization and trying to remember his past life. Except...instead of getting lost in nothing because nothing was _there_ , Riku got lost in _something_?

 

“Kinda.” Riku finally let out a sigh and pulled out his gummiphone. While he pulled something up on it, he pointed to whatever it was he had been staring at, “You see that over there?”

 

Roxas shifted till he was standing almost where Riku was and looked. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was searching for at first but then--

 

“Isn’t that...Mickey’s seal?” The shape looked familiar, two small circles atop of one larger one. He was pretty sure he had seen that on the King’s official documents. And on their gummi phones. What was it doing here?

 

“Sora said they were lucky emblems and that they had just begun appearing in the worlds,” Riku shrugged, still looking through his phone. “I haven’t had a chance to ask Mickey about them yet, but...” He passed the phone to Roxas.

 

Instantly, Roxas saw the same lucky emblem in the picture, pointed out by Sora’s eager hand. Underneath the picture was a text box:

 

_I’ll give you this one only because it was hidden under some boxes and I think the people who work here are already gonna be angry we messed up their display once. But when we come here, you’re gonna have to find the rest on your own!_

 

Roxas chuckled, a sound echoed by Riku. “Nice to know he was so focused on his mission.”

 

“Sora always found time for detours,” the silver haired boy grinned. “I just-- when I saw it, I remembered how much he wanted to make me visit all the worlds with him.”

 

“He send you pictures a lot?”

 

“All the time,” Riku huffed, “my phone almost ran out of storage.” He let out a small chuckle. “He asked once if they had any lucky emblems in the realm of darkness, and I almost sent him back a picture of Mickey, but there was never any time.” Riku’s grin turned sad again, “I thought.... After it all I could at least tell him the joke.”

 

“He would have laughed,” Roxas said, grinning. “He would _still_ laugh. You’ll have to tell him when he’s put back together again.”

 

Riku nodded putting his phone back, then looked around. “I suppose to do that, we should probably start looking.”

 

“I’m not the one who got distr--” Roxas cut himself off when he heard a voice from above.

 

“Oh! So _that’s_ how you do it!”

 

The blonde turned to look at Riku, and the silver haired boy’s gaze had narrowed on the top floor.

 

Suddenly, Riku disappeared. There one moment, and gone the next.

 

Roxas summoned his keyblade, not sure what was going on. “What the--”

 

“Up here!”

 

He blinked, startled and started looking finally glancing up to where Riku was waving.

 

From the third floor balcony.

 

Roxas blinked again. “What the f--”

 

“It’s called airstepping. It’s kinda something Sora and I learned in the dreaming worlds.” The words were just barely audible at this distance.

 

Even from the ground, Roxas could just picture the damn smirk on the silver haired boy’s face, and part of him got a little frustrated. “Okay, show off. Now how am _I_ gonna get up there?” He already felt stiff from the magic spell Donald had placed on them to fit in to this world. Though he didn’t really see why if there weren’t any people in it.

 

Suddenly Riku jumped off the balcony, and by this point Roxas was seriously worried for the sanity of Sora’s best friend.

 

The older boy seemed to slow himself down with a roll and landed next to Roxas again. “Sorry... I didn’t think of that. I suppose I shouldn’t leave you behind.”

 

Roxas sighed, looking around, finally noticing some rails that seemed to ascend to the upper floors. “Wait... can we climb those?” He pointed to the rails.

 

Riku tilted his head in thought, “I think I have a better idea...” He ran towards a giant machine in the middle of the floor, climbing inside. Roxas quickly followed, jumping up into the glass dome on top.

 

“Here.” Riku helped him up to the ledge and they made their way over to a rail marked with the number ‘3.’ “Watch me...”

 

Suddenly, Riku was gone again, zooming up the rail as if propelled by magic.

 

“How?” Roxas wondered.

 

“Just trust your magic!” Riku called back, having reached the third floor balcony again. “You spent at least a year or so in Sora’s heart. I think instinct will take over.”

 

“I doubt it,” Roxas mumbled to himself, but took a cautious step on the rail anyway.

 

Unfortunately, Riku was right. Roxas was sent spinning up the rail, nearly getting dizzy till he figured out how to balance himself. It was a bit like learning how to skateboard. However, there was no easy way to figure out how to stop, so Roxas found himself launched off the rail and straight into Riku’s unguarded back. They both went flying to the floor.

 

“Ugh...” Roxas groaned, “Thanks for the warning on how to stop...”

 

“I thought it would be obvious...” Riku muttered, rolling away from Roxas and standing. “But maybe Sora ran into a wall or two before he figured it out.”

 

“I think I would have preferred the wall,” Roxas huffed, standing up as well. He was going to straighten out his clothes before he remembered that they were practically painted on. He kinda wished the spell had given him the same effect it did Riku, with just a plastic looking face and body but actual fabric clothes.

 

Except Riku looks a little too...pretty. Donald had mentioned that they would take on the appearance of toys in the world and that Sora had been an action figure of some sort, so Roxas figured he was about the same. He wasn’t sure what Riku was supposed to be though. Roxas thought he looked a little too nice to be a children’s toy.

 

“Maybe Yozora could use some help!”

 

Roxas blinked. It was that voice again. It sounded like it was coming from behind them.

 

“I’m sure Sora’s doing just fine Rex. Besides, you promised you would have figured out how to beat the...uh... badamat--”

 

Bahamut!” the other voice corrected.

 

Riku looked at Roxas and they both nodded, sprinting towards the source of the voices, entering what looked to be a gaming store.

 

They found a gathering of other toys standing around a video game system that was hooked up to a TV. They hadn’t heard Riku or Roxas approach, so the blonde cleared his throat. “Um... excuse us?”

 

The toys all looked up, and suddenly Roxas was nearly bowled over by a giant green dinosaur trying to get to Riku. Startled, the blonde summoned his keyblade but relaxed a bit when it appeared that the dinosaur was not only friendly, but also trying to shake Riku’s hand.

 

“Yozora!” the dinosaur shouted, nearly dancing in place with excitement.

 

“Wait, Rex.” A tall--well, Roxas wasn’t sure what to call this toy, but the toy was dressed in a plaid shirt and jeans, with some kind of wide brimmed hat. There was a star fastened to the toy’s shirt that said ‘Sheriff Woody.’ Roxas didn’t know what a Sheriff was, but it sounded official.

 

“I thought you thought that Sora was Yozora?” Sheriff Woody continued.

 

“Well yeah, but he’s like... the Play Plus Alpha version while he is like... Play Plus Omega!” The dinosaur leapt for joy. “I didn’t think they were coming out till next month!”

 

“Huh?” Riku backed away a little and raised his hands. “Sorry. I’m not... whatever you said. I’m just Riku.”

 

“And I’m Roxas.” The blonde had to let out a chuckle though when it seemed that even Riku’s polite correction did nothing to subdue Rex’s excitement. “Actually, we’re looking for Sora. He’s our friend and we really need to bring him home...”

 

“Well... that might be a small issue...” Another toy said, this one smaller and more plastic looking like Roxas. Another action figure?

 

“Huh?” Riku ducked under Rex’s arm. “Why? What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing!” Woody was quick to reassure the silver haired boy, “Buzz here worries for no reason...”

 

“It’s been more than five minutes, Woody,” Buzz crossed his arms for a moment, then pointed to the TV screen. “Sora appeared in Andy’s room this morning and was startled when he couldn’t find his other friends, Donald and Goofy. We volunteered to help him check out the store. When we couldn’t find him here, Sora said that there was one other place he could check and ventured into there...”

 

Roxas tilted his head, not sure what the toy was getting out. “Into... the TV?”

 

“Into the video game!” Rex explained. “He summoned his giant key thing and unlocked a portal or something. I haven’t been able to unlock that weapon yet, so it must be really special.”

 

Riku smiled and summoned his own keyblade, Roxas following close behind. “You could say that.”

 

“Wow!” Rex exclaimed, then looked like he wanted to hug Roxas too. “Are you a secret boss? Or a character from the secret ending?! Is this a spoiler?”

 

“Uh, No spoilers?” Roxas tried to laugh. “We’re really just here for Sora.”

 

“We can enter the video game too, and find out what’s holding him up,” Riku explained. “Be back in a few.”

 

The toys all nodded and Riku opened a portal, he and Roxas entering through it.

 

The world they entered was nothing like the world they left.

 

In some ways, it reminded Roxas a lot of the World That Never Was, a darkened desolate cityscape.

 

They didn’t get much time to enjoy it though as they were soon approached by robots that introduced themselves by shooting projectiles at Riku and Roxas.

 

They both ducked, dodging a direct hit, and then summoned their keyblades.

 

“Look out!” another voice shouted, and suddenly another robot was flying over head, firing some kind of laser at the enemy robots, causing them to immediately disappear.

 

The robot’s front opened, revealing the smiling brunet they had come here to locate.

 

“Sora!” Riku shouted, evidently relieved.

 

“Riku?!” Sora shouted back hopping out of the robot’s interior to tackle his friend to the ground. “What are you doing here?! What about your mission with the king?”

 

“The king’s fine, Sora,” Roxas interjected.

 

Sora gasped, head shooting up, and suddenly Roxas found himself on the ground as well as the brunet tackled him.

 

“I didn’t think it’d work so soon!” Sora shouted. “I thought Ienzo had all these calcu-things and stuff. Or something. But you’re really here?”

 

“Uh...” Roxas fumbled for words. Clearly _this_ Sora didn’t remember the keyblade battle. Which might be for the best at the moment.

 

“Maybe later, Sora,” Riku interjected, his keyblade ready to fight.

 

When both blonde and brunet turned to look, they found a whole army of robots approaching.

 

“How do we take them down, Sora?”

 

Sora huffed, “Honestly, the best way is with the robots themselves, but that was my last working model...” the brunet pointed to the robot he had emerged from, and Roxas could see that it had taken a beating. “There’s one robot. The prime. If we take that one out, the rest should turn off.”

 

Riku nodded, “Where is it then?”

 

Sora summoned his own blade, glancing around, then pointing to a slightly smaller robot descending from the sky. “There!” He then grinned at Riku, “This may be easier with a one shot attack, you know?”

 

Riku nodded.

 

Roxas could only watch in shock as they both dropped their keyblades, then stood shoulder to shoulder, their hands held out.

 

Soon a glow began to form between the two of them as their keyblades changed, Sora’s turning bright gold with a rainbow of colors, while Riku’s turned obsidian, but no less beautiful. They looked like the stained glass windows from the Land of Departure. Then the blades merged into a single keyblade with two hilts, joined by one charm.

 

Roxas blinked, not sure if he was seeing this correctly. _Is that... a paopu fruit?_ He had heard the legend of course, Xion eagerly sharing what Kairi had told her. If two people shared a paopu, their destinies were intertwined.

 

She had said that sometimes close friends shared one so they wouldn’t ever lose one other. Roxas suddenly wondered if Riku and Sora had shared one when they were younger. He couldn't think of anyone whose destinies were more intertwined than those two.

 

As Sora and Riku grabbed onto the keyblade, they turned to look at each other, Sora grinning. Roxas could barely see the look in Riku’s eyes, but--

 

It made him think of something else. Something he hadn’t had a word for when he was a nobody, but the books that Ven had given him so he could put names to the emotions had helped. It was love, something he felt for all his friends. But the look in Riku’s eyes was definitely more intense than that.

 

Which certainly... explained a few things. Like Riku’s practically murderous drive to get Sora back originally. Roxas knew first hand how it felt to desperately want someone back, and Xion was just his friend. _If Riku loves Sora like that then..._

 

He didn’t get much time to dwell on it too deeply, instead focusing on defending the two as Riku and Sora were using their combined keyblade to demolish to prime robot. As soon as it collapsed, the others did as well.

 

Sora cheered and wrapped an arm around Riku’s waist. “I knew we could do it!”

 

“Was there ever a doubt?” Riku questioned wrapping his own arm around Sora’s shoulders and dragging him in to rub roughly at his hair. Or at least... he tried to. If Sora’s hair was like Roxas’s, it was a bit...stiffer than usual. Riku flinched and grumbled, quickly letting go of the laughing brunet.

 

Roxas huffed and despawned his own keyblades. “Well... I feel useless...”

 

Sora turned back, “You’re not useless Roxas! We would have totally needed you as backup if that didn’t work!”

 

“Thanks.” Roxas then turned back to where they had entered at. “Now, how do we get out of this place?”

 

As always, Riku seemed to have an answer as he summoned another portal and soon they were back with Woody, Rex and Buzz.

 

“Sorry I took so long!” Sora laughed. “There were more robots than I remembered.”

 

“Did you find your other friends?” Woody wondered.

 

“Huh?” Sora blinked, then shook his head, “No, they weren’t there either...”

 

“Donald and Goofy are waiting for you back at Radiant Garden,” Riku quickly reassured him. “We were sent to come find you.”

 

“Oh?” Sora tilted his head. “Why there though?” He turned back to Roxas. “Does it have something to do with how you’re here now?”

 

Roxas grinned, “Something like that.”

 

“We’ll explain on the way there,” Riku promised. “C’mon!”

 

“Okay!” Sora eagerly agreed, “Oh wait!” He then turned back to the other toys. “Sorry for bailing on you guys, but thank you for helping me look around the store.”

 

“No problem!” Woody said, Buzz and Rex nodding in agreement.

 

“And... would you mind taking a picture of me and my friends?” Sora wondered. “Riku and I rarely get to travel together, and Roxas is kinda new to all this. I’d like to remember it!” He tried to grab his phone, and frowned when he couldn’t find it. “Hey where’s--”

 

“Donald and Goofy might have it,” Riku interjected, pulling out his own phone. “Here, use mine. I’ll send the picture to you later.”

 

“Okay!” Sora grinned brightly, offering the phone with a quick explanation. Woody nodded and soon Sora had swung an arm around Riku and Roxas, pulling them in a little closer than Roxas would have preferred. “Say cheese!”

 

Riku laughed more than said anything, and Roxas just smiled.

 

As Sora was pulling away to grab the phone and say bye to his friends, Roxas turned to Riku, not surprised at all to find the boy much more relaxed than when they had arrived here. “You know, I think I’ll forgive you.”

 

“Huh?” Riku turned, confused for a moment, before a blush overtook his features. “Oh,I suppose I never really apologized for--er...”

 

“Knocking me out and kidnapping me?” Roxas suggested, “Erasing my memory and sticking me into a virtual town?”

 

“DiZ--er... Ansem the Wise was definitely behind that last two,” Riku defended, “When I found out that his plan was revenge, I didn’t want to help him anymore. But... yeah... I’m sorry for the first two...”

 

Roxas let out a long sigh, letting go of the grudge he had held against Riku since that moment. “I forgive you. You were right in that I probably would have gotten myself destroyed in the attempt. I suppose when you care for someone that much, your ethics might get a little... overshadowed.” He then pointed a finger, wanting to get this across before Sora came back. “But just know that if you hurt him, I will _win_ the next round. Got it?”

 

The blush darkened. “I don’t know what--” Riku cut off when he caught Roxas’s glare. “You don’t have to worry about that. Sora doesn’t even--”

 

“Doesn’t even what?” Sora asked, coming up to swing an arm around Riku’s back. “What?”

 

Riku sighed, taking his phone back. “Doesn’t even know when it’s not polite to listen in to others conversations.” He chuckled when the brunet pouted, his hand nearly going up to ruffle at Sora’s hair again, but seemed to remember the plastic nature of it right now and he let out a sigh. “C’mon. Your friends are waiting.”

 

“Yay!” Sora cheered, grabbing Riku’s hand to drag him out the door.  

 

Roxas trailed behind, wondering how Riku couldn’t see that Sora cared just as much.

 

_\--Namine, Kairi & Xion, Atlantica--_

 

 

“I don’t think I would like living in this world on a regular basis,” Namine murmured, pulling awkwardly at her new white shirt. Thankfully her bottom half was now a white iridescent tail of some sort or else this venture would have been very indecent. “I can’t draw underwater.” She also couldn’t _swim_ underwater very well, and Xion was guiding her along.

 

“Maybe there’s another way you could express yourself creatively?” Kairi was already doing flips and corkscrews through the water, her tail nearly the same color as her hair, with shimmery pink frills at the end. Her upper half was also covered in a white and pink camisole.

 

“I think Demyx snuck off here once or twice.” Xion held a finger under her chin. “I don’t remember if he liked it because of water... or because of music.”

 

“Maybe both?” Kairi guessed, then twirled ahead, “Sora told me about this place once. I really liked mermaids when I was little when my foster dad told me about them.”

 

“You thought it was neat that they lured fishermen to their doom if the mermaids were angry,” Namine huffed. “You told Sora that once.”

 

Kairi only blinked in confusion for a moment before giggling, “Yeah, that too. Sora said that these mermaids were pretty nice though. They don’t hurt fishermen.”

 

“That’s a relief,” Xion laughed as well, then helped Namine swim next to Kairi, her dark blue tail flashing pinks and purples as it caught the light. “Any idea where we might find a Sora though?”

 

Kairi paused in her swimming, thinking about it. “Well...” She looked around.

 

Namine did as well, a bit worried when she couldn’t see much but open ocean for miles. But then she looked down, “Oh, that looks like a city?”

 

Xion and Kairi looked down as well, finding the bright glow of some kind of community below them, the light from the sun above refracting off of some kind of white material.

 

“Looks like a good start!” Kairi dove down first.

 

Xion offered her hand again, and Namine hesitantly took it. “Sorry you have to help me swim.”

 

“It’s okay!” Xion grinned, “I really don’t mind. You helped me out before, so I’m glad I can return the favor.”

 

Namine wasn’t sure what she had done could be considered helping, but she tried not to focus on that. Between Sora, Riku, Kairi, Rikuto, Xion, Roxas--- her list of people she seemed to need to make things up to just kept growing. But no one seemed to think she should have to do anything, all of them claiming that everything worked out for the best and that it was thanks to her that a lot of it was able to happen.

 

Sora was still lost though. She couldn’t even reach him with her usual powers. There wasn’t enough of him yet to reach.

 

“Hey,” Xion’s voice startled Namine out of her thoughts. “It’s a little hard to pull you if you’re not helping at least a little bit,” she teased.

 

Namine blinked, “Oh, sorry.” She tried mimicking the smooth movements of both Kairi and Xion. She was pretty sure she wasn’t as graceful, but she was getting better at keeping up.

 

Soon they reached the city, hearing a beautiful voice reverberating through the water as they got closer, followed by what sounded like a band.

 

“...have a lot of funny fun~” another voice sang out, eager and enthused.

 

And just slightly out of tune.

 

“That’s Sora’s voice!” Kairi recognized, swimming closer.

 

“Really?” Xion raised an eyebrow. “Has anyone told him that he can’t sing?”

 

Kairi shrugged, “What he lacks in talent he more than makes up for with enthusiasm. Solos in the grade school show were really the only thing that Riku couldn’t beat him in because Riku gets stage fright.”

 

“He does?” Namine was surprised. For someone who seems to exude confidence and showing off, it seemed unlikely that Riku would get stage fright.

 

Kairi turned back and winked. “Yep. Every time a teacher asked him to stand up and give a speech or something, Riku would mumble something about asking Sora to do it instead.” She let out a laugh. “It’s funny how it never seemed to affect him if Sora was home sick though...”

 

Xion and Namine both let out a chuckle as well as they swam towards where the sound was coming from.

 

They entered a concert hall of some sort, thankfully empty so they weren’t interrupting a performance. Flipping and twirling around each other in the middle of the stage was a young mermaid with bright red hair and a green tale, as well as their favorite spiky haired brunet.

 

“Sora!” Kairi called out, her powerful kicks propelling her ahead.

 

The music was cut off with a startled squawk as Sora stopped swimming, turning to stare at the newcomers. “Kairi!” He barreled into her, and Namine imagined that they both might end of up with some bruises. “Kairi! I can’t believe your here! How’d you--”

 

“Gummiship,” Kairi quickly explained, laughing as she and Sora tried to untangle arms and fins. “Was a bit of a surprise after landing.”

 

“I know right?!” Sora grinned, “Donald never warns me!” He laughed and then looked behind Kairi. “Oh, new friends?”

 

Kairi’s smile faded just a bit and Namine realized they must have been dealing with a Sora from his second journey. Maybe.

 

“We’re Kairi’s travel companions,” Namine explained, trying to swim closer on her own. “I’m Namine and this is...”

 

“Xion,” the darker haired girl held out her hand and Sora shook it eagerly.

 

“Great!” He then turned to Namine, “I-- Are you the Namine I have to thank?”

 

Namine blinked, “I--er-- There’s no need to thank me, really.”

 

“But... you somehow brought Kairi out here, right?” Sora tilted his head, “I’d like to at least thank you for that. I knew she’d love this world!”

 

“Oh, that wasn’t really--” me. She wanted to say that, but Xion gently touched her shoulder and shook her head.

 

“We can explain later. When he’s whole again,” the darker haired girl murmured quietly while Sora and Kairi got distracted by each others tales.

 

“Is Riku with you?” Sora asked. “I really want to see what he’d look like. I wonder if he’d be part dolphin like me... or a fish like you... or something else?”

 

Kairi frowned in thought. “Shark, maybe?”

 

“That’d be...” Sora trailed off and Namine thought his eyes might have glazed over. If it wasn’t for the the water all around them, he might have started to drool.

 

“Focus!” Kairi called out, laughing. “No, he’s not with us. Sorry, but we do need to take _you_ with us. We need to go back to Radiant Garden.”

 

“We do?” Sora frowned. “But... I promised to help Ariel practice.”

 

“I think we got the hang of it, Sora.”

 

With a start, Namine realized that they had all rudely ignored the red haired mermaid.

 

“Are you sure?” Sora asked, then seemed to realized the social blunder as well. “Oh! Ariel, this is my friend Kairi! And her friends, Namine and Xion.” He pointed to them in turn.

 

“Oh?” Ariel grinned, “And are you guys also from an ocean far, far away?” She tacked on a wink at the end though.

 

Kairi chuckled. “Very far.”

 

“I’m glad you came to visit then. Will you be back for the music festival? That’s what Sora was helping me practice. My sister was supposed to be dancing with me today, but she got sick.” Ariel shrugged in a ‘what can you do’ manner.

 

“I’m just glad I was able to fill in.” Sora swung his arms behind his head and grinned. “Oh... but can I show Kairi one thing with the instruments though?”

 

“Sure!” Ariel turned back to the band. “We’ll take a five minute break!”

 

The band nodded and all swam away, scattering to different points of the concert hall.

 

Sora eagerly grabbed Kairi’s hand and led her to one of the bigger instruments. Namine could see that it had several white and black--were they stones? They were laid out in a row on one side.

 

“A piano?!” Kairi exclaimed, already taking a seat on the small bench beside it.

 

“Is that what it’s called in your world?” Ariel questioned, taking a seat beside her. “We call it a ‘mare-lyra.’”

 

“Well...” Kairi trailed off as she laid her fingers delicately on the white stones, pressing down. Instantly, a sound reverberated through the water. “How--? We’re underwater!”

 

Sora laughed. “I don’t know. I guess it works the same way as how we’re talking. Magic, I guess...”

 

“Different worlds have different rules,” Xion added. “So I suppose a piano working underwater makes sense.”

 

Kairi laughed and played several notes in a row. “Oh man, this is awesome!” She then started on a light melody that resonated throughout the concert hall.

 

Namine watched in awe as Kairi seemed to play the song without thought, her eyes closed as she listened to the music. After a moment, Namine noticed certain notes repeating.

 

Ariel began humming, then vocalizing a note softly that harmonized with the melody Kairi was playing. The pink-tailed redhead didn’t even open her eyes and kept playing, the music growing louder, but no less sweet and gentle. Ariel continued to harmonize, the two sounds echoing beautifully through the water.

 

Finally, Kairi opened her eyes as she held the last note for a beat and took her hands off the instrument. “Wow, I had forgotten how much I loved playing. I’ve been wanting to hear that song in reality for a while...”

 

“Is that a new one?” Sora asked, a fond grin on his face.

 

Kairi giggled, “Yeah. Been thinking on it for a while, but just never have time to play anymore.”

 

“Too busy traveling?”

 

“And training!” Kairi responded, evidently forgetting that this Sora didn’t know of her quest to become a keyblade master.

 

Sure enough, Sora tilted his head. “Huh? Training?”

 

Kairi was saved from answering when someone else called out. “That sounded beautiful! And you composed it yourself?”

 

Kairi turned, startled. “Er--yeah. I’ve been playing since I was five or so. I’m sure that was pretty bad, I don’t get much time to practice now.”

 

A small red crab swum up to them, evidently the speaker. “Nonsense! I’m sure with some tweaking it would be a masterpiece. You must come play at the music festival!”

 

“Oh, I--” Kairi’s cheeks blushed. “I really--”

 

“You should, Kairi!” Sora encouraged.

 

“Oh please do!” Ariel offered a grin, “We don’t often get visitors from other worlds, and I’d love to talk to you about music from your world.”

 

“I uh--” Kairi fought down her blush and then nodded. “I’d really love that. But I don’t know if it’ll be for the music festival. We really have to get Sora back to our wor-- er, ocean, and I don’t know when we’ll be back.”

 

“Drop in when you can,” the crab suggested. “We can work on the arrangement.”

 

“Do you have other compositions you’ve worked on?” Ariel asked.

 

While those three chatted, Sora hanging out with what could only be a proud smile on his face, Namine turned to Xion. “I... I didn’t even know she could play.”

 

“What?” Xion tilted her head, “But you were her nobody!”

 

“I know.” Namine raised a hand, absently pulling her her hair. “But... we didn’t share memories. Not like how Axel remembered when he was Lea. It wasn’t even like how Roxas almost remembered Sora. I woke up with nothing. Just, an urge to draw what I did see in my head. They may have been an image of Kairi playing piano, but I didn’t have any context to it.”

 

“Well...” Xion turned to look back at the redhead for a moment, then grinned at Namine. You both have different ways of expressing yourselves then. Maybe... that was just another sign that you were meant to be your own person all along. Different from Kairi, and complementary.”

 

Namine nodded and smiled. “I suppose that is a good thing that we’re our separate people now. We can all find out more about each other!”

 

“Right!” Xion laughed. “Do you think Sora just dragged Kairi over there so she would have a chance to show off?”

 

“Of course!” Namine agreed. “Sora is always so proud of his friends and their accomplishments. He wants them to be recognized.”

 

“We’ll have to throw Sora a party to recognize him for his accomplishments too!” Xion grinned. “When he becomes whole again.”

 

Namine nodded in agreement. She didn’t think that Sora would think he deserved all the thanks he was going to get once he was whole again. It didn’t mean that it shouldn’t be said though.

 

She could say she understood that feeling.

 

_\--Hoshi, Destiny Islands--_

 

Hoshi rather thought she had been a good mom. Maybe not the best, not like Aiko, who had probably been the best mom even before Sora was placed in her arms. She still wished everyday that Hotaru was with her. Maybe things would have been better if he had been? Maybe Riku wouldn’t have--

 

She shook her head. Thinking in the _maybe’s_ and the _what if’s_ wasn’t helpful then when she had been desperate for any news of her son, and it wasn’t helpful now, when she knew where both of her sons were, she just wondered when they would come home.

 

Hoshi let out a sigh and resumed her cleaning of the upstairs rooms. It was nearly time for tea and she promised Riku that she’d visit Aiko at least once a week for dinner, and that was tonight, so she only had a limited amount of time to finish. She plugged the vacuum in, opening the door to Rikuto’s room.

 

And then nearly let out a scream.

 

There, on Rikuto’s bed, was Sora. Fast asleep, snoring a little bit, but definitely him.

 

She frowned, remembering Riku’s face when he told her what had happened. The tears that he refused to let fall.

 

And the way he had always come back to the islands, but never came home.

 

She let out a sigh, gently closed the door, and called her sons.

 

Riku didn’t answer, but Rikuto did on the first ring.

 

“Mo--Mrs.--”

 

“Rikuto...” she chided lightly. They had talked about this. He was her son too, even if he was... born in a different way.

 

“Mom,” he said, then again with more confidence. “Mom...”

 

“Rikuto,” she answered, “How are you?”

 

“I’m... okay.” There was the sounds of something going on in the background, a scuffling as if he was trying to move out of the way. “It’s been... busy.”

 

“I see.” She let out a sigh. “I’m sorry to ask, but is your brother--is Riku around?” Though she thought of the two as brothers, she knew that they didn’t quite think so yet.

 

“Uh, not at the moment...” He trailed off.

 

“Well, as soon as you see him, please tell him to come home. In fact, why don’t you both come home.” She then laid down the one card she knew would get Riku to come. “It’s about Sora.”

 

There was a beat of silence, then: “I told him one would show up there!” There was some more yelling that she couldn’t quite make out then Rikuto was back. “Um, how old do you think Sora is?”

 

“How...old?” She frowned, then realized that Sora did indeed look much younger than he should have been. “Twelve, maybe thirteen?” Before Riku had gone missing. Maybe that’s why she hadn’t noticed the age thing at first.

 

“Okay.” He let out a sigh, and then shouted back at someone. The other person said something in return. “Oh... Roxas said to distract him with food if he wakes up. Riku and I will be there soon.”

 

She opened her mouth, but before she could question it, Rikuto let out a short shout and then quickly muttered a “Bye Mom!” before hanging up the phone.

 

Hoshi blinked at the phone in her hand. “Who’s...Roxas?”

 

She let out another sigh and put her phone away, instead taking the vacuum downstairs to start baking instead.

 

If Sora was here, she’d need a lot more food.

 

Of course, Sora woke up as soon as he smelled food cooking, wandering downstairs and rubbing his eyes. “Huh? Mama Hoshi? Where’s Riku?”

 

“Riku’s, uh...” She fumbled for words. Sora hadn’t called her Mama Hoshi in a while. “He’s... out. For a bit. He’ll be back!” She passed a plate of Sora’s favorite oatmeal cookies over. “Want some?”

 

“Yes, please!” Sora offered her a grin and nabbed three. “Sorry for sleeping here again. I don’t know why I’m so tired...”

 

“You’re a growing boy,” she grinned, ruffling his hair. “You’re allowed to be tired.”

 

He laughed, spreading crumbs everywhere, but she couldn’t find it in herself to scold him. She had missed that laugh just as much as Riku and Aiko did.

 

Soon enough, she heard the familiar sounds of her boys coming up the walkway. Sora must have heard it too, quickly standing up and running to the door. “Riku!” He threw the door open, only sending a curious glance up at Riku before wrapping his arms around Rikuto. “It feels like ages since I’ve seen you.”

 

Rikuto blinked, clearly not sure what to do in this situation, and Riku looked pained, but resigned. Hoshi frowned as well, but then realized that if Sora -- this Sora-- was only twelve or thirteen, then Rikuto certainly looked closer to a thirteen-year-old Riku than Riku did.

 

“I...uh....” Rikuto fumbled for the words

 

“Why don’t you take Sora up to your room,” Riku suggested. “Show him the new video game.” He motioned towards Hoshi. “I’ll explain to Mo--I’ll explain.”

 

 _You better,_ Hoshi thought, watching as Rikuto nodded and led the eager and kinda oblivious brunet upstairs. Then she turned her gaze to her eldest. “What’s this about? Is he... like Rikuto? A --what did you call it... replica?”

 

Riku shook his head. “No, he’s, uh...” He let out a sigh. “I suppose I should start at the beginning.”

 

“I suggest you do,” Hoshi stated, pulling out a chair for him, then taking her own. After a moment, she passed over the plate of cookies.

 

Riku grinned in thanks and took one. “Well, so you know how I said that Sora had disappeared?”

 

Hoshi listened quietly to the story. In some ways, it was even more difficult to take in than her son’s tale of adventure and the... keyblade. Of traveling to a world of pure darkness, of sinking into that same darkness, only for Sora to save him. Now it seemed that Sora was nearly lost for good, only coming back in bits and pieces.

 

“What am I gonna do, Mom?” Riku turned towards Hoshi, and she was shocked to find the tears already spilling over his cheeks. “What if I can’t-- what if he doesn’t come back from this?”

 

Hoshi immediately vacated her chair, reaching out to draw him into her arms. He tucked his head onto her shoulder, just like when he was little. “It’s gonna be okay, Riku. You’re gonna bring him home. Just like always.”

 

“But--” He coughed, his sobs coming on stronger now and she ran a hand down his back soothingly. He always held all his tears in till they came bursting out at once. “What if I can’t? What if we do this and he still--” He coughs again, choking on the last word.

 

She let out a sigh and pulled away just enough so she could look him in the eyes, the exact shade of green as his father’s. She felt her heart break again, but the pain was familiar now. “Listen to me. You will do the same thing that we have done since your father passed away. We live. Day by day, just the way he would have wanted us to. Sora wouldn’t want you to give up if he was gone. I know you believe that.”

 

Riku took a few shaky breaths before nodding, and she drew him back for another hug. “But it won’t come to that Riku. He’ll be safe. It sounds like it’s working already. So don’t lose yourself in the what-if’s. Okay?” She ran a hand through his hair, wondering, not for the first time, when he had gotten so tall.

 

He cried for a minute longer, hidden in her embrace just like all the times he was small before he pulled away, wiping under his eyes. “Yeah. Okay...”

 

They smiled at each other for a moment before she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Rikuto was hovering in the doorway, looking between her and Riku, unsure of his own place in all this.

 

“Sora fell asleep while playing video games,” the boy muttered, looking away from both of them. “I was winning.”

 

Riku chuckled weakly, rubbing the tears from under his eye, “He always did that. Would rather nap than admit he lost.”

 

Rikuto hesitated, then a shy smile broke out and he nodded. The two boys shared a grin, still laughing.

 

Without hesitation she opened an arm out, and Rikuto ran to her as well. She wrapped both of her boys up in a hug, squeezing them close. “Just be safe out there. Whatever you guys are doing.”

 

“We will,” Riku whispered, embracing her back.

 

“We promise,” Rikuto muttered into her shoulder.

 

She held on tightly, wishing she could keep them safe in her arms forever, but also knowing that they would have to leave eventually. She could only keep her door open for whenever they wanted to take a break from the heroics.

 

Soon, they were packing up, Sora still asleep on Riku’s back, Rikuto carrying both his and his brother’s bag full of homemade goodies.

 

“You better visit when all this is over with!” Hoshi called, hugging Riku one last time, then embracing Rikuto as well. “I mean it. I have a bone to pick with Sora too.” Not to mention Aiko. She almost hoped that a Sora didn't show up at home.

 

“Okay,” Riku chuckled, adjusting his grip on the brunet.

 

“And I want to meet all your new friends,” she asked, “And let me know what their favorite foods are. We can have a party.”

 

“Yeah,” Rikuto nodded, still surprised from when Hoshi had handed him his own bag of treats, all different from Riku’s.

 

She grinned, adjusting Rikuto’s hair, much to his dismay. “And you better finish that summer reading for school. No slacking!” She then reached up to adjust Riku’s hair as well, then doing the same to Sora’s. Rikuto gave her one last hug, and then they were off, destination unknown to her for now, but she knew they’d be safe.

 

And they would all return home someday.

 

_\--Terra, Riku & Leon, Pride Lands--_

 

Terra frowned. Or at least, he was fairly certain he was frowning. It _felt_ like he was frowning.

 

But he wasn’t sure if lions _could_ frown.

 

“Stop looking so glum...” Riku’s voice came from the lion with very light...fur? “You’re starting to resemble Leon...” He looked to Terra’s side where another lion was examining his paws, a stern frown on his face.

 

So lion’s could frown. Or maybe Leon’s frown was just permanent.

 

“...whatever...” Leon rolled his eyes and then started to walk ahead. “C’mon, are we on a mission or not?”

 

“Right...” Riku sort of hopped to catch up before he got used to running on four legs.

 

It was still better than what Terra could do, which was mostly fumble and try not to trip over his own feet. Er... paws.

 

The Master had not warned him of this.

 

Of course, he had heard that there were worlds where there were no people, but he was also told that those worlds were off limits until he and Aqua had learned the spells that could disguise their human forms. The Master just never mentioned that it might be difficult to walk in such a form.

 

He wondered if Aqua would have had this problem. She was way more graceful. But would that transfer over to a lion form?

 

“Hey!” Riku called out, he and Leon already much farther ahead. “Are you coming?”

 

“Yeah, sorry!” Terra had to focus on it, but soon he figured out how to walk without stumbling too much.

 

“It’s actually easier of you don’t think about it,” Leon stated when Terra got closer. “Let instinct take over.”

 

Terra frowned. The last time he had let instinct take over was--

 

Well... it wasn’t worth thinking about right now.

 

Instead, he kept his mind off of walking by thinking about their sudden and unexpected addition to the group. Riku and Kairi had introduced the man as Leon when he and a blonde named Cloud had stopped by with a few more Soras in tow, one roughly the same age as the one who fought with them at the keyblade graveyard, and two more younger ones, about ten or so.

 

By that point the Sora they were referring to as ‘Sora Prime’ was slowly aging closer to the age he should be. The scientist, Ienzo, mentioned that the Sora Prime was averaging out the ages and maturity of the Soras that were brought back. As more ‘older Soras’ were merged in, the older Sora would get till he was about the age he was when his heart got shattered.

 

It was all a bit beyond Terra, but everyone who cared about Sora was on the lookout for any and all versions. And it seemed that included this ragtag team of young adults from Radiant Garden. Terra hadn’t quite heard the whole story, but he gathered that the team had taken care of Sora when the boy had first started out on his journey nearly three years ago. The look on Leon’s face and the resolution that he had to venture out with them to find Soras had been more than enough to convince Terra to let him come along.

 

Riku had been a little more hesitant, but then he had been more and more on edge as it became clear that the the pieces of Sora’s shattered heart may indeed reach an infinite number. And there was no sign so far of the sort of “magnetic effect” that the scientists had talked about.

 

Though Terra knew that, magnet or not, they would find all the pieces, he was worried about Riku’s well-being. The silver haired boy was pushing himself hard. According to Kairi, he was barely sleeping. When he wasn’t piloting the gummiship himself, he was texting on his phone with the others. Every once in a while the silver haired boy’s phone would chime out and then Data-Sora’s voice would call _“Another Sora returned safely!”_ Lately, that was the only time Terra would even see the boy smile.

 

“Do you know anything about this world?” Leon asked, dragging Terra out of his head.

 

Terra shook his head, but Riku nodded.

 

“Vaguely. Just what Sora told me. But that feels like a lifetime ago. I think he mentioned Pride Rock though? It’s where the other lions lived. But, he never said what it looked like...”

 

Terra looked around the large grassy area, not really seeing anything, except-- “What’s that out there?” He tried to motion with his head, and suddenly he really missed fingers. “That looks like a rock formation. Maybe it’s a start?”

 

“It’s better than wandering this savanna forever,” Leon muttered, already darting ahead, Riku close on his heels.

 

Terra followed behind, finding that Leon’s advice had actually worked out and he was running a lot faster, easily catching up and then surpassing Leon.

 

The other brunet seemed to take that as a challenge and put on a burst of speed as well. Soon they were racing across the savanna. Terra could hear Riku right on his heels and he tried to put distance between them.

 

Suddenly, there was a shadow over head, and then Riku was in front of both Terra and Leon. He turned and smiled as best as a lion could.

 

“I win.”

 

Terra huffed but was kind of glad for the stop. It didn’t seem that lions were distance runners. When Riku let out a laugh, he found himself also glad that the boy was having a bit of fun despite the mission. “Who said that was the finish line?”

 

“I did.” Riku huffed, then his ears perked. He turned back around quickly staring through the tall grass.

 

“What’s--” Terra started to ask, but then he heard it to.

 

“--visit the watering hole?”

 

“It was fun!”

 

Riku darted off at the sound of Sora’s voice.

 

Terra and Leon shared a look before also running in the direction of the sound.

 

The tall grass obscured Terra’s vision, and he couldn’t quite see Riku’s pale fur anymore.

 

Suddenly the sound of loud roars and growls echoed through the savanna, which was helpful in locating Riku, though it was also worrying.

 

What if Sora didn’t recognize them and attacked? Or what if it wasn’t Sora at all?

 

Soon they came to a clearing where the grass wasn’t as thick and found two lions wrestling on the ground, letting out sharp growls as they grabbed and pawed at each other. One was clearly Riku, his nearly white fur contrasting with the other lion’s darker coat. Terra briefly debated calling on his keyblade, though he was unsure how to even wield it in this state.

 

In the end, he didn’t need to do anything as Riku gained the upper hand and pinned his opponent to the ground, a growl resonating deep in his throat.

 

The pinned lion bared his teeth before suddenly relaxing completely, blinking a bit. “Riku?”

 

Startled, Riku quickly climbed off the other lion his head tilted in confusion, “Sora?”

 

The darker lion, Sora, answered with a laugh and a toothy grin, waving one paw. Then he tackled Riku again, but this time with a clear playfulness in mind.

 

Riku laughed as well, trying to wrap a paw around Sora. “What did you attack me for, banana breath?”

 

“Sorry!” Sora cried out, quickly trying to duck out of Riku’s hold and tackle his friend to the ground. “Simba told me to be on the lookout for intruders.”

 

Riku huffed and head butted Sora till the other fell to the ground and then they were wrestling again, with less angry growls and more playful ones.

 

“I wanna play too!” A childish voice called out. From the grass a much younger lion came running out, heading for Riku and Sora’s brawl.

 

Leon quickly cut the little lion off and nudged her to sit next to Terra. “Maybe in a minute. They need to calm down first...”

 

Indeed, Riku and Sora were practically roughhousing, biting and pawing at each other trying to get the upper hand. Terra wondered if this was how they grew up on their island, always trying to one up each other.

 

He supposed it was how he and Aqua had grown up, at least until they found their different areas to focus on, and although Ven was always up for a sparring match, he wasn’t as competitive about it.

 

Finally, Riku pinned Sora to the ground again, holding him there for a moment till Sora gave a sign of submission and then the lighter furred lion let up.

 

Sora rolled over and stretched, finally noticing the other lions there. “Oh, who are your friends, Riku?”

 

Terra opened his mouth to introduce himself, but Leon cut him off.

 

“We may never meet again, but we’ll never forget each other.”

 

“Leon?!” Sora let out a loud whoop and ran over, head butting Leon in affection and laughing. “Wow! How’d you get out here? I always kinda thought you’d like this world, but I never thought you’d actually get to visit! How is everyone else in Radiant Garden? Aerith and Yuffie and Cid? Oh and did Cloud come back? What about Tifa?” Sora was practically vibrating in excitement.

 

“Well.” Leon’s eyes turned stern. “You’d know if you would write or call every once in a while.”

 

Sora let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, I kinda... got busy you know? Mark of Mastery stuff...and other stuff.”

 

“Uh huh.” Leon let out a loud sigh and covered his muzzle with one paw. “Well, we have to get you back to Radiant Garden.”

 

“Huh?” Sora tilted his head, “Why?”

 

“Mark of Mastery stuff,” Terra interjected. “I’m Terra.”

 

“Oh?” Sora looked back at Riku. “Isn’t that the guy you warned me about?”

 

“It’s okay, Sora,” Riku assured him, “We worked it all out.”

 

“Okay!” Sora grinned and walked over raising a paw. “Hi! I’m Sora!”

 

Terra laughed. “It’s nice to meet you, Sora.”

 

Sora grinned again and suddenly Terra was struck by something Aqua had mentioned. Sora and Ven really were a lot alike.

 

“Ready to go?” Riku questioned.

 

“Um, well, I gotta take Kiara back to Pride Rock first.” Sora motioned towards the little lion cub that Terra had forgotten about.

 

She was looking between the four of them with a deep frown and obvious confusion on her face. “What are you guys talking about? What’s Radiant Garden? Is that another pride?”

 

“Sorta.” Sora chuckled, nuzzling her gently and then pawing at her so she got up. “C’mon. We’ll meet up with your Dad on our way back I’m sure. No way he didn’t hear Riku and I fighting.”

 

“You were loud,” Kiara agreed. “And you lost. I’m not sure you can be a good babysitter if you lose.”

 

“Hey!” Sora protested, nudging Riku with his shoulder. “I’ve very rarely won against this guy here. But I can beat anyone else.”

 

“You lost against me,” Leon teased.

 

“I had just woken up in a strange cit--Land,” Sora protested, shooting a glare at Leon that the older man ignored. “I have totally beaten you several times since then!”

 

“Sure,” Riku muttered, laughing when Sora let out another noise of protest.

 

“Kiara!” A voice called out.

 

“Uh oh.” The lion cub tried to hide behind Sora.

 

“It’s okay,” Sora reassured her. “It’s my fault.” Louder he called out. “Over here, Simba!”

 

Another lion, bigger and stronger than either Terra or Leon, leapt over the grass, landing gracefully. He glared at the older two warriors turned lions, letting out a menacing growl.

 

Part of Terra’s instinct was to growl back, but the human part of him knew that would probably be a bad idea. Instead he tried to follow Leon’s example by relaxing and not quite showing submission, but not challenging the older lion either.

 

“Simba!” Sora called out, quickly running to stand between them. “Simba! These are my friends! They came to get me.”

 

Slowly, the fight left the other lion and Simba relaxed a bit. “I heard fighting.”

 

Sora chuckled weakly, “Yeah... that was a case of mistaken identity. I didn’t recognize Riku at first, so I attacked him.” He motioned a paw at the lighter haired lion, then at the other two. “And Leon and Terra came with him. No outsider attacks. Promise.”

 

Simba seemed to stare him down before accepting that as the truth and nodded. “Alright.” He then turned to Terra and Leon. “I’m sorry for the rude welcome. We’ve been having trouble with strangers recently. But if you are Sora’s friends, then welcome to the Pride Lands.” He then smiled a bit, “You know, I should have realized that you were with Sora. You all look like you’re from the same Pride.”

 

Terra tilted his head in confusion, then realized what Simba had meant. With their dark brown coloring just shades off and blue eyes, he, Leon, and Sora probably did look related. Riku was the odd man...er... lion out.

 

Riku let out his own huff. “I’m sure some of them would find that an unfortunate resemblance some days.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Sora protested, trying to knock Riku to the ground again, but the lighter furred lion dodged before Sora could really put any weight behind it.

 

The smaller brown lion laughed and then turned back to Simba and Kiara. “I think I have to go for now. But I’ll be back. Promise!”

 

“Can we play hide and seek next time?” Kiara asked.

 

“Yeah!” Sora agreed easily. “And I’ll bring Riku. He’s the best at hide and seek, but we’ll know all the best hiding spots.”

 

“Okay!” Kiara grinned.

 

They all bid goodbye to Simba and his daughter before departing back to the gummiship.

 

Sora took to his lion form easier than all of them, and Terra debated if it was actually because he had done this before. Sora was just more comfortable with change. The older keyblade wielder had yet to see the younger one truly fight; he could only imagine how wild it would be without the formal training of a Master. It was a testament to the boy’s natural skill that he was able to take on Master Xehanort with his friends.

 

“Tag, Leon!” Sora shouted, nudging the older lion with his shoulder and then bounded off.

 

For a moment, it looked like Leon would not give chase, but then the larger lion leapt forward, nearly catching Sora . The younger lion dodged and darted away.

 

Beside him, Riku let out a sigh, “I’m not gonna protect him when Leon catches up.”

 

Terra chuckled, “It seems like it would be a full time job protecting him everytime he provoked someone else.”

 

“Yeah,” Riku didn’t sound too put out by that.

 

Terra huffed, then spoke his next question quietly. “Did you ever find it? That strength that you wanted?”

 

Riku let out a sigh, looking at his paw for a moment. “Yeah. The strength to protect the person I cherish most. Then, I thought I lost it, because I lost him.” He glanced back out at Sora.

 

Again, Terra saw the sadness in him. It wasn’t a dark sort of sadness, but almost resignation. He remembered seeing it in his Master sometimes whenever Aqua challenged him to a chess game. “But Sora’s coming back! And it’s mostly thanks to you that we’ve come so far in recompleting him. So you still have that strength.”

 

It took a moment, but Riku eventually nodded. “I know. And I also know that if he hadn’t come back, I would have followed him to wherever he was. Sooner or later, I would have found him.”

 

He sounded so resolute, Terra was almost a little afraid to ask how far Riku was willing to go. Instead he let out a sigh. “I’m sure you would have.” He looked out to where Leon and Sora were still chasing each other, reminding Terra of a pair of brothers. _Ven would have loved this world too.._. “Strength to protect who you cherish most? You know... it was the moment you said almost those exact words that I decided to pass the keyblade’s power on to you. But this wasn’t the future I had in mind when I did that. I never thought that--”

 

“It’s okay,” Riku reassured him quickly, looking ahead to where Sora was still dodging Leon’s attacks, “We can’t get lost in what if’s. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t change a single line of what happened. It made Sora and I both who we are today. Kairi too. I know Kairi and I are happy for that, and I know that when Sora’s whole again, he’ll agree.” He turned back to Terra. “So just focus instead on what you can teach all of us in the future, Master Terra.”

 

Terra let out a huff of laughter, knowing in his heart that he had made a good choice in passing the power onto Riku, no matter the roundabout way the younger boy had come into his destiny.

 

“Riku!” Sora called out, suddenly tackling the boy to the ground. “Tag! You’re it!”

 

“I’m not even playing!” Riku protested, but rolled over anyway to give chase as Sora darted away. Luckily, they were still heading in the direction of the gummiship.

 

Leon let out a loud sigh as Terra caught up. “I’m still not sure where he gets the energy.”

 

“Has he always been like that?” Terra wondered.

 

“Ever since I knew him,” Leon admitted.

 

“What was he like back then?”

 

Leon let out a huff, “Young, naive, stubborn, and handling a weapon that was much too powerful for him.” He watched as the two younger lions started to roughhouse instead, burning off whatever energy they still had. “All that though, and he still managed to save all the worlds. I suppose that if a kid had to save us all, he wasn’t the worst choice.”

 

Terra may have just met the man, but he figured that was probably high praise.

 

They watched as Sora and Riku finished play fighting and were now nudging each other playfully on the walk back. Riku looked more relaxed now, as if just having a version of Sora around was nearly enough.

 

“They’re better together,” Leon observed quietly. “Both of them seem more relaxed around the other.”

 

Terra could only nod in agreement. Riku alone was coping, and Sora could make friends with anyone enough to get by. But together they seemed to shine brighter, each complimenting the other.

 

He also realized that Riku really would stop at nothing to get that light back.

 

Terra could only hope it would be enough.

 

_\--Riku, Traverse Town--_

 

He fought them on it every step of the way. He was fine, he didn’t need sleep.

 

Every moment he slept was another moment there could be another Sora out there. Lost and confused and unable to find his way home.

 

“No more missions.” Kairi finally put her foot down. Literally, as her stomp echoed through the computer room. “Not until you sleep.”

 

“Kairi, I’m fine!” Riku protested. “I slept on the gummiship--”

 

“For an hour,” Terra elaborated, carrying the lion Sora into the room with the prime Sora.

 

Riku wasn’t sure how this magical process would ‘average out’ a lion and a human. But it had managed the monster version Mickey had brought in earlier, and the merman form that Kairi and Xion had to keep hydrated on the way back with numerous waterga spells. So he supposed the magic knew better than he did.

 

“Riku!” Kairi huffed, glaring up at him. “An hour’s not enough. You need proper rest!”

 

 _I’m fine..._ Riku thought. He didn’t feel tired. What he could feel was every version of Sora calling out to his heart, asking for him to rescue them. He wondered if Kairi could feel it too, but figured if she did, she wouldn’t be asking as hard for him to sleep. She’d understand that there couldn’t be any sleep when Sora was out there and--

 

“--ku...Riku!”

 

Riku gasped, startled out of his inner thoughts and suddenly found more than Kairi staring at him in concern. Aqua and Namine were there too, Mickey just behind them.

 

He shook his head. “I’m fine. _I’m fine,_ I just--”

 

“Sleep,” Kairi whispered.

 

It was only when his eyes started to grow heavy that he realized that Kairi had laced the word with a sleep spell. “Dammit, Kai....” he mumbled out. He felt her surprisingly strong arms catch his weight though they both still landed on the floor. Riku struggled to get up, or at least roll off of her, but she held on.

 

“It’s gonna be okay, Riku,” the redhead murmured, running a hand gently through his hair. “The others will keep searching. We’ll stay here with the Sora prime. Maybe he’ll wake up.”

 

“No...” Riku could feel it. There were still so many Sora’s out there. “More...”

 

“Shh....”

 

Riku’s vision darkened, and he drifted off...

 

The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was the bright neon signs against the night sky. The second thing he noticed was the colorful bat creature flying over him worriedly.

 

“Hey there, Komo,” Riku murmured, holding an arm out. The bat eagerly landed on it and screeched quietly, as if asking Riku if he was okay.

 

“I’m fine,” Riku huffed, then sat up. When he glanced down, he found that he was in the same clothes he had fallen asleep in.

 

 _So am I not in a sleeping world?_ He supposed that would make sense. They had unlocked the sleeping realm. But Traverse Town was special for another reason. It only appeared when people had need of it.

 

How had he landed there then? He was fairly sure that Kairi wouldn’t have dumped his exhausted butt on a world just to make sure he got some sleep.

 

Not to mention that Komory Bat was still here.

 

Suddenly there was another squeak. When Riku turned around, he saw a Meow Wow barrelling towards him. As soon as it was close enough, it leapt into his arms, distressing Komory Bat till the winged creature moved to Riku’s shoulder instead.

 

“Woah...” Riku called out. Meow Wow yipped and tried to bury into his clothes. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

 

The strange cat/dog creature just yipped and squeaked, hiding its face. Riku let out a sigh. If the Meow Wow was scared, was there a big nightmare nearby?

 

“Back off!” a voice called out, one that Riku instantly recognized. He gathered the Meow Wow in his arms and ran off, searching down alleyways and other streets before he found them.

 

Sora wasn’t in the outfit Riku remembered from their Mark of Mastery exam either. Instead, the younger boy was in the outfit he had worn during his second adventure. Riku only wondered for a moment why that would be, then remembered that Sora had made another trip to the sleeping realms in order to say goodbye to his dream eaters.

 

Apparently the nightmares came for a visit as well.

 

Komory Bat flew off to help and the Meow Wow wiggled in Riku’s arms, apparently willing to try and be brave again. The silver haired boy quickly released the creature and summoned his own blade.

 

He fought his way to Sora’s side, much to the brunet’s surprise.

 

“Huh? Riku?”

 

“You were taking too long,” Riku teased, “Some master you’ll make if you’re always running late.”

 

“Hey, at least I’ll be a polite one for saying goodbye to all my friends. I had to reassure _your_ dream eaters too that you’ll be back...”

 

Riku smiled sadly. He supposed that was true. He had meant to try and do the same, go say bye to all the dream eaters that had helped him, but there hadn’t been time.

 

Sora always made time for things like that.

 

“You’re right,” Riku admitted, then fired a thunder spell at an incoming jabberwocky. “But I suppose we can discuss it after this?”

 

“Right!” Sora agreed.

 

Between the two of them, and the forces of all their spirits, the nightmares soon dissipated. Riku wondered if that meant Sora would wake up, but instead the brunet let out a grin, leaning against a giant panda spirit and closed his eyes.

 

“Going back to sleep?” Riku teased, trying to keep the panic out of his voice at the thought of that actually happening.

 

“Nah, just thinking...”

 

Riku just barely bit back the instinctual ‘don’t hurt yourself,’ and instead leaned back against the panda with Sora. The bear didn’t seem to mind, and soon they were covered on both sides by warm cuddly spirits. “About what?”

 

“Hmm, well... One, I’m thinking about where you got the cool clothes from.” Sora pulled at the lapel of Riku’s jacket, then trailing down the sleeve and arms to the silver haired boy’s gloves. “Is that a Master thing or will I get new clothes too?”

 

A line of heat seemed to linger where Sora had shifted his warm hands down his biceps and Riku tried to fight back the blush. “Nah, definitely just a master thing. Guess you're stuck looking like a dork.”

 

“Riku!” Sora protested, sticking his tongue out. “C’mon, I think my clothes look nice!” 

 

“Then why do you want new ones?”

 

“Because!” Sora huffed and then his hand trailed up to card through the shortened silver strands. “And what did you do to your hair?”

 

Riku hummed, also running a hand through it. He hadn’t really noticed when the heartless had chewed parts of it off. He just tried to even up the ends. “It’s kind of a long story. We’ll get there one day. But I’m sure you weren’t just thinking about how awesome I look...”

 

Privately Riku thought it was cute the way Sora’s face reddened and glanced away.

 

“... I suppose I might have been thinking about how you were able to find me. During the test I mean.” Blue eyes blinked open to stare at Riku. “I could hear you the whole time, I just couldn’t-”

 

“I had managed to jump into your dreams, Sora,” Riku explained. “Ansem, the one in the dream, he said that I had become your dream eater.”

 

“Wow!”

 

Riku almost got uncomfortable with the way Sora was looking at him. Like he had done the impossible. But to Riku, it hadn’t seemed impossible. He would do anything for Sora.

 

“I wish that someday I can do that to save you!”

 

Riku had a thought back to when, in a moment of desperation, he had called out to Sora. And Sora appeared. Just landing next to Riku like it was nothing.

 

And then again when Aqua’s dark form had raced at him with lightning speed. Riku had called on his keyblade, but there was no way he would have been able to fully block in time and then Sora was _there_. So fast that it seemed impossible.

 

Riku let out a soft huff. He supposed that they were always willing to do the impossible for one another.

 

“I’m sure you’ll get the chance, Sora.” Riku grinned and laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Someday, I’m gonna need you. And I know you’ll be right there.”

 

“Of course!” Sora grinned back, “Always, Riku.”

 

Riku nodded. He wasn’t sure if this was his dream, or maybe the dreams of a Sora somewhere. But just incase, he wanted to pass on a message. “We’ll save you, too, Sora. No matter where you are, I’ll find you.”

 

Unsurprisingly, Sora tilted his head in confusion. “Huh? But I’m right here, Riku. You already found me.”

 

Riku grinned, unable to resist wrapping Sora up in a hug. “Always, Sora. I will always find you.”

 

He could feel the confusion in Sora’s return embrace, but that was okay.

 

It was more of a promise to himself.

 

_\--Ventus & Lea (& Vanitas), Halloweentown --_

 

Despite the dark and somewhat dreary world that he and Lea had found themselves in, he had to laugh at the situation they had found Sora in. Hanging upside down from a tree because his costume got stuck while retrieving a present that had fallen from the odd sleigh his friend had been flying.

 

“It looks so easy when Sandy does it.” The tall skeleton wondered, as he and Lea used their height to help Sora down.

 

“I think Santa just has better aim,” The brunet muttered, adjusting his mask. Then he turned to Lea and Ventus. “Roxas?...Axel?”

 

“Uh...” Ven furrowed his brow, not sure if to agree or correct him. Finally he just trusted his gut. “I’m Ventus actually. You don’t--”

 

“Oh, right Ven!” Sora’s grin widened. “Right, Ven and Lea, right...” He tilted his head voice growing quieter in thought, “Right... Radiant Garden...”

 

“What?” Ven frowned. How’d Sora know--

 

“Nothing!” Sora shouted hurriedly.  “I’m guessing you might be my ride? I, uh, can’t find Donald and Goofy anywhere...” He laughed nervously, then changed the subject again, “Before we go you wanna help us set up for a spooky Halloween/Christmas?”

 

Ven blinked, wondering how those two holidays went together at all, but nodded anyway. Sora whooped in excitement.

 

“Yay! I was kinda upset I had missed this world when Donald and Goofy and I were traveling on our last adventure, so I’m glad I get to return in time for Christmas!” he grinned at Ven and Lea. “I love your costumes though. Did Donald just cast the spell on the gummiship to work when you landed, or did one of you learn it?”

 

Ven tilted his head. How did Sora guess that? “Uh... Donald just cast it on the ship, but how do--”

 

“I almost like your costume more,” Sora interrupted, poking Ven’s exposed cheekbone. “Does it hurt though?”

 

“No.” Ven had been more than a little startled when he saw his reflection. He looked like something half decomposed. “It’s just... kinda weird.”

 

Suddenly, he felt something shift on his shoulder and with a start, Ven realized the flood that he had dubbed ‘Vanitas,’ must have followed him off the ship. The spell didn’t seem to affect him, though Ven supposed the creature was probably scary enough as is.

 

“Oh!” Sora jerked back a bit, but then let out a small grin, as if he knew something. “Hi there! New friend?”

 

“Something like that,” Ven agreed, barely flinching when Vanitas scratched at his hair.

 

Sora grinned, the fangs that protrude from his mouth glinting in the moonlight. He then turned to Lea. “I don’t even know what you’re supposed to be...”

 

Ven had to admit that he found Lea just a bit scarier. The redhead seemed to grow in height, and his limbs were overly extending. But the scariest part was that his eyes were replaced with dark sockets. Not quite like Sora’s friend, who was clearly a skeleton; Lea was just... scary. “Can you even see?”

 

“Yeah,” Lea’s dry voice stated, “But I do feel overstretched.”

 

“Oh, but you’ll be useful at reaching the upper branches!” Sora’s friend exclaimed.

 

“That’s a good idea Jack!” Sora agreed.

 

Together they began to retrieve the fallen presents, Ven and Sora gathering the ones on the ground while Lea and Jack focused on the ones in the trees.

 

Suddenly, Ven felt Vanitas shift on his shoulder, and then hop down, darting off into town. “Vanitas! Hey!” Ven quickly gave chase, running down darkened streets and alleyways. “Vanitas!”

 

Finally he heard the strange chattering and scratching he had gotten used to when Vanitas was in this form and he followed the sounds to the center of town. As he got closer he also heard sniffling.

 

“C’mon, kid. That’s not reason to cry...”

 

“But Riku--”

 

Ven gasped. That was the voice of a young Sora!

 

“Riku smeekoo, you gotta be strong on your own!”

 

Ven could hear the irritation growing in Vanitas’s voice, and he hurried to step in, not wanting the smaller boy to get scared.

 

He hadn’t needed to.

 

Little Sora, maybe only five or six, was staring up at a humanoid Vanitas in confusion. Ven frowned at the sight. Not only was Vanitas nearly as transparent as a ghost, but Sora was in a tiny version of his vampire disguise. The only thing that was different was that little Sora had his mask clutched in his fists.

 

“How?” Sora asked.

 

Vanitas rolled his eyes and then knelt down to the child’s level. “Look... you’re scared right?”

 

“...yeah...” Sora sounded like he was gonna cry again.

 

“Well, sometimes fear can make you quick. It can let you know when to hide, at least until you have enough strength to face whatever scares you.” Vanitas poked the boy’s cheek. “And you can’t do that by letting others fight your battles for you. So, no Riku.”

 

“But he’s my best friend!” Sora protested, “He makes me strong!”

 

Vanitas chuckled, and Ven was surprised to find actual humor in the tone. “What will you do when Riku’s too scared to fight?”

 

“Then I’ll fight for him!”

 

“And what if you're both scared of the same thing?”

 

“I...uh...” Sora frowned and looked down. “I... I’ll still fight for him. I won’t be scared.”

 

“It’s okay to be scared,” Vanitas reassured him, “You just don’t let it stop you from doing what you want.”

 

Sora tilted his head, then nodded, giving a wide, gap-tooth grin. “Thanks, mister!”

 

“Agh!” Vanitas huffed, sticking his tongue out. “I am not a mister. My name is Vanitas.”

 

“Okay, mister.” Sora grinned again, though this time it was a bit mischievous. Then he caught sight of Ven and flinched back a little. Ven frowned, before remembering his own disguise.

 

“Oh. It’s okay, Sora.” He waved and smiled, though he wasn’t sure how nice it looked with the exposed gum line. “I’m your friend. Call me Ven!”

 

“Ven...” Sora repeated, a little unsure, then a light seemed to go off behind those blue eyes. “You were sad! Did you get fixed?”

 

“Huh?” _Sad?_ Was Sora referring to when Ven took shelter in the brunet’s heart? “Yeah, I got, er, fixed.”

 

“So you’re happy?”

 

“Yeah.” Ven laughed, though he caught Vanitas staring at him with a frown. “You know, Sora, when you helped me, I think you helped your new friend Vanitas, too.”

 

“I did?!” Sora’s eyes widened and he grinned back up at the darker haired boy who was now glaring at Ven, practically telepathing _‘shut up_.’ Ven chose to ignore him.

 

“Yeah, he needed someone, too. He _still_ needs someone.”

 

“I can be someone!” Sora volunteered, much to Ven’s amusement. Then the little brunet turned back to Vanitas. “Want to go trick or treating?”

 

“Huh?” Vanitas looked lost.

 

“You know! To get candy!” Sora shook a little bucket that Ven just realized was right beside him. “Candy makes me and Riku happy!”

 

“In some worlds, kids go around on Halloween and ask for treats.”

 

Ven and Vanitas both startled at Lea’s voice and sudden appearance. Sora must have found the man a bit more scary than Ven for he tried to hide behind Vanitas’s transparent body.

 

Lea grinned, “Hey, little guy, I’m not that scary. I promise. You want to go trick or treating and show off your costume?”

 

“Trick or treat!” Sora repeated, then grabbed Vanitas’s hand. The older boy, confused, followed along.

 

Ven turned back to Lea. “Where’s the other Sora?”

 

“Helping Jack return all the presents to Santa’s shop,” Lea said, shrugging. “I was not looking forward to what I’d look like in Christmas Town, so I elected to go see where you ran off to.” He then nodded towards Vanitas, who was surprisingly agreeable to being dragged everywhere. “What’s with the Evil Sora Twin? Another version of Sora?”

 

“He’s uh...” Ven frowned, not sure how to explain it. “I guess he’s kinda to me like what Roxas is to Sora. But not a nobody. And not a heartless... just... a Vanitas?”

 

“Uh huh...” Lea tilted his head, then shook it. “I’ll just... let that go.” He let out a sigh. “So, we got probably an hour before Sora and Jack return. Should give him enough time to go trick or treating.”

 

“Sounds good!”

 

They trailed behind the two, Vanitas hovering just behind Sora like a ghost while the brunet rang every doorbell he could find. Thankfully, the residents of Halloweentown didn’t seem to mind, too enamored with Sora’s adorable costume and attempts to be scary. Plus Vanitas glared any anyone who _did_ seem to mind.

 

With the residents not being prepared for their little trick or treater, most only gave small potions or ethers, which Sora didn’t seem to mind, finding the brightly colored mixtures nice to look at.

 

Ven couldn’t help but hold back a laugh whenever Sora took Vanitas’s hand to drag him to the next house. He took out his gummiphone, knowing that Terra and Aqua would never believe him without proof. As he lined up the shot though, he frowned.

 

Instead of the sullen dark haired boy, the screen on the gummiphone only showed a flood unversed following behind Sora. Ven lowered the gummiphone to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, but Vanitas was still there, still slightly transparent, and still sullen. Ven tilted his head in confusion, but took the shot anyway, wondering if it was Vanitas’s magic or something about this world that prevented him from showing up on screen.

 

“Hey!”

 

Startled, Ven turned, finding Sora --the big Sora-- running up, something tucked in his arms. With a shock, Ven realized it was another small sleeping Sora, this one about the same age as the Sora currently trick or treating, but dressed in a bright red and green outfit and pointed hat. The strange skeleton man trailed behind them.

 

“Santa found him in the workshop with the elves,” Sora explained. “I couldn’t really explain why there were two versions of me, so I just took him with us.” He looked up at Ven. “Uh, I’m guessing that you know why there’s two versions of me...”

 

Ven frowned. There was something in the way Sora said that...

 

The blonde had wondered if they shouldn’t tell Sora that his heart had been scattered. This version at least seemed pretty okay with knowing there was other versions of him walking around.

 

“Right,” Ven eventually said, “Well, we just gotta wait for another you to finish trick or treating, then we’ll be ready to go.”

 

“Another me!” Sora looked way to excited with that, and Ven, again, wondered why he was so _okay_ with being scattered like this. “Ooooh, I am so cute!!” He dumped the sleeping Sora in Ven’s arms and ran over to the other mini version, picking him up as soon as little-Sora stepped off the porch. “Hello, Mini Me!”

 

Little Sora was a less than pleased and he immediately began squirming out of big Sora’s arms and reaching out. “Ven!!”

 

Ven ran up, “What’s wrong, Sora?”

 

Little Sora looked at him for a moment, then screwed up his face and said “Not you! Ven!” Then he seemed to realize his mistake and instead shouted: “Van! Big brother Vanitas!”

 

Ven gasped at the shout, then began to laugh, growing in volume until Vanitas shoved him lightly and took little Sora from big Sora’s arms. With a start, Ven realized that Vanitas had steadily been growing less transparent as the hour had progressed. Now, he was nearly solid.

 

“What’s wrong, kid?” Vanitas asked with surprising softness.  

 

Little Sora hummed and then laid his head on Vanitas’s shoulder. “Tired... wanna go home now...” He wrapped his arms around the older boy’s neck.

 

Vanitas looked more than confused. Shocked, nervous and befuddled crossed his features before Ven let out a light chuckle and said. “So... big brother, huh?”

 

Vanitas huffed and immediately tightened his grip around the child. “Shut up. He’s, like, five. He doesn’t know better.”

 

“I dunno,” big Sora grinned. “I think you’re doing a great job, big brother.” He chuckled and ruffled his miniature’s spiky locks. “You’re not scared, little me?”

 

“No!” Little Sora said confidently, “Big Brother Van is scarier than anything here!”

 

“I don’t think he’s that scary.” Jack Skellington muttered, having followed big Sora over to their little group. Vanitas glared at the skeleton. But, with a child in his arms, it had very little effect.

 

“Let’s just head back,” Vanitas huffed.

 

“Yeah,” Lea agreed, “The sooner we can put humpty dumpty back together again, the sooner we can all take a vacation.” He then grinned at Vanitas. “You’re invited too... big brother.”

 

Vanitas’s face reddened but he chose not to answer that.

 

Ven huffed out a quiet laugh, tightening his grip when the other young Sora in his arms shifted and curled his fist in Ven’s ripped shirt.

 

Together, they all thanked Jack for his help (though Ven rather thought they were more of a help to him) and then traveled back to where they had parked the gummiship, settling the smaller Soras into one chair and buckling them in.

 

Between one blink and the next, in the place where Vanitas had stood the flood unversed had returned. He curled up beside the boys and seemingly fell asleep. Ven mused that it must have taken a lot of effort on Vanitas’s part to maintain a somewhat physical form just for the comfort of the smaller Sora.

 

“I’m glad you’re giving him a second chance,” older Sora mused, giving toothy grin. His costume stayed on even as Lea’s and Ven’s faded away, though this Sora didn’t seem to mind.  

 

“Huh?” Ven wondered, tilting his head. “Well, I just figured...” He shrugged, not sure how to explain it but Sora seemed to understand anyway, given his grin.

 

“I know. And I’m just glad.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Lea huffed, “Be glad all you want, but take a seat first so I can get this gummiship flying without knocking you two down.

 

They both chuckled and did as asked, soon on their way back to Radiant Garden.

 

_\--Minnie, Disney Castle--_

 

“Sorry, Minnie. I guess I’ll be gone for a bit longer.”

 

Minnie held back a sigh. She wasn’t angry. Or even upset. Really. This sounded very important, and she hoped that Sora would be himself soon. She was just...

 

Disappointed.

 

She had hoped that, after this Xehanort guy had been taken care of, that Mickey would have time to rest, something he hadn’t done in at least 2 years (though if she was honest, he hadn’t properly rested since he became a keyblade master and she had learned that it came with the job.)

 

“It’s alright, Mickey! Just come back safe,” She offered him a grin. “I hope you’re successful in putting Sora back together again. For his sake and everyone else’s.” She had seen a few of Sora’s friends since his disappearance and to say that they were sad would be an understatement.

 

Especially Riku. Though she had thought that Kairi and Sora were romantically linked, her husband’s friendship with the silver haired boy had meant that she got to know Riku. And that meant not only listening to him tell stories about his best friend, but also observe the silences in between. The quiet looks of longing and the pain hidden just behind the laughter.

 

Well, she knew when someone was deeply in love. She could only hope that, whatever happened in the future, Riku’s heart wouldn’t break from it. She didn’t think it would. He seemed too strong for that.

 

“Minnie?” Mickey questioned, and with a start, she realized that he had asked a question.

 

“Sorry!” She laughed, “I was just...lost in thought.”

 

“Uh huh.” Mickey grinned back, used to her flights of fancy. “I was just asking what you planned on doing while I was gone?”

 

“Like my schedule revolves around you?” She teased, laughing when he blushed. “I was planning on reorganizing the library. Which will actually be helpful if you’re not here. _Someone_ doesn’t like to go through his books.”

 

Mickey grinned sheepishly. “You never know when it might come in handy.”

 

“You don’t need the third edition of a textbook when you have not only the updated fifth, sixth and seventh versions, but you also own double of each.” She sighed, “I’m only moving them to the auxiliary library in town.”

 

“Uh, right.” Mickey nodded.

 

They then said their goodbyes, Minnie sending him an air kiss and Mickey ‘catching’ it.

 

She did let out her sigh when she hung up the phone, placing it on her desk.

 

“Sorry his majesty is gone all the time.”

 

“Oh!” She startled at the voice, glancing around for the silver haired young man. Mickey hadn’t said that Riku was coming.

 

It wasn’t until she saw the flashing screen that she realized the voice had come from inside the gummiphone. “Riku?”

 

“Uh, sorry. Not exactly.”

 

She glanced down and realized that it was the little virtual assistant, dubbed ‘Data-Riku’ by Chip and Dale, that had spoken. “Oh, it’s alright dear.” She found speaking to the data version of her husband’s friend a little odd, but Data-Riku had also been extremely helpful in developing her skills with the new phone. She could now do more than just answer phone calls (she could make them too!) “Now, I don’t suppose you saved that document I had typed up earlier. The one that listed the books in the private library?”

 

Data-Riku chuckled a little bit and then pulled up the required document. “As I mentioned last time, all the documents auto-save to your phone. So you should be able to pull them up as needed.”

 

“Okay, so if I wanted to make a copy of the layout of this document in order to start a new inventory then...”

 

Data-Riku helped through all the steps as she walked towards the main castle library, Pluto trotting behind her. They had the whole document set up by the time she got to the doors, Data-Riku explaining that he could type the titles in faster and easier if she just wanted to say them outloud.

 

She was so distracted by the phone functions that she hadn’t really noticed her surroundings until a loud piercing voice shouted “Doggy!” and Pluto literally sprinted into the room and knocked a figure to the ground.

 

“Pluto!” She called out, lifting her skirts in order to run a bit better. “Pluto, that’s quite enough now!”

 

Pluto’s ears perked up, and he stopped licking the figure for a moment so Minnie could get a better look. She blinked in surprise.

 

“Sora?”

 

The boy looked up at her, and she realized that, while he may have been Sora, he certainly wasn’t _the_ Sora who had escorted her through the castle just a year earlier. This Sora was much, much younger. And shorter. He barely came up to her shoulder when he stood up, one hand still petting Pluto’s hand.

 

“Yeah?” He tilted his head, “Who are you? Where’s Riku? Why are you dressed up so pretty?”

 

Minnie giggled, “I’m Que-- Minnie. You can call me Minnie. I’m dressed up because I have a very important job to do.” She chose to politely ignore the question about Riku’s whereabouts, not sure how to explain what was happening to the young child. Luckily, Sora didn’t seem to notice.

 

“Oh...” Sora looked to be deep in thought. “So like when mommy has to dress up to go to im-por-tant meetings?”

 

“Exactly like that.” Minnie giggled. “Would you like to help me with my work? I’m organizing the books in this library today.”

 

The boy looked around, as if just realizing that he was in a library. Then he looked back at Pluto. “Can the doggy stay with me?”

 

“His name is Pluto, dear,” Minnie explained, “And I’m sure if you ask nice, he’ll keep you company.”

 

“Okay!” Sora then turned to the old dog. “Can you keep me com--comp-an-y, Pluto?”

 

Between his height and the way he stumbled over certain words, Minnie thought the boy was still quite young. Human ages confused her a bit, but she thought the boy might have been a little younger than Goofy’s son Max. Somewhere between a baby and a boy just starting school.

 

Pluto had begun licking the boy on the face in agreement to his question, much to Sora’s delight. Minnie quickly set him up in the small children’s area she and Mickey kept for Donald’s nephews and Goofy’s son (and for her own children, hopefully someday). Checking that the boy knew his ABC’s she asked him to put the books into alphabetical order, putting all the A’s together, then the B’s and so on.  

 

“If you need me dear, I’ll be right over there.” She pointed to a shelf just a few feet away. He nodded in understanding and began to look over the books. Pluto laid down nearby, guarding her small charge from any who would dare invade the library.

 

She chuckled and had Data-Riku help her compose a short text to Mickey.

 

_Found a little Sora in the Castle Library. Don’t worry too much about picking him up quite yet, he’s helping me work._

 

Mickey’s reply was near instant, first double checking that she was okay watching the little one, and then reassuring her that someone would be around by the end of the day to pick him up.

 

With that out of the way, she and Data-Riku went to work, going through each title on the shelf and writing it down, along with any other important information like author, edition, date. She’d go through the lists later and try to remove any extra copies and out of date texts. She found the work relaxing, though she didn’t get to do it very often. Luckily, the kingdom was no longer in danger from the forces of darkness, so she could take a small break while her subjects were at peace.

 

They managed to get through several shelves, Data-Riku’s typing much faster than her own, before she heard Daisy asking what she wanted with her tea.

 

“Oh!” Minnie said, putting the last volume on the shelf. “I hadn’t realized it was tea time already. I hope Sora hasn’t gotten hungry.”

 

“Huh?” Daisy raised an eyebrow, following Minnie over to where she had left the child.

 

It looked like Sora had gotten a bit distracted in his job. While half the books had been reorganized, he also now had a pile stacked around him, evidently pulling out the ones he had been interested in reading. Though he didn’t get very far. With a book lying halfway open across his chest, he was now taking a nap, using Pluto as a pillow. The dog was also sound asleep, both snoring softly.

 

“Are we opening a daycare now, too?” Daisy teased, before letting out a sigh. “I presume you let the king know?”

 

“Of course, but Sora’s not causing any trouble, so they’ll pick him up later,” Minnie giggled, “How about cookies with tea?”

 

Daisy let out a soft huff of her own and then strode back to the door to give the order to one of the attentive brooms.

 

Minne chuckled again when Pluto let out a yawn and shifted, though not enough to disrupt the brunet from his own sleep. How cute!

 

She momentarily thought about taking a picture with the phone, having seen her husband do so on a few occasions, but she wasn’t sure how--

 

“It’s this app Your Majesty,” Data Riku called out softly from the phone, already opening the camera. “Press this button to take a picture.” He pointed to one of the small touch screen buttons, and then disappeared into the phone’s files again.

 

Minnie lined up the shot, taking several pictures on accident, but they were good pictures. Then she asked Data-Riku how to send the picture to Sora’s friends with the caption: _Libraries are good for naps and dog cuddles._

 

The replies came in almost instantaneously.

 

_Xion: <3 _

_Namne: <3 Perfect picture! _

_Roxas: Why does he get to nap?_

_Lea: Wait, napping was an option?_

_Ven: I wanna cuddle with dogs too!_

_Aqua: Was he trying to help organize?_

_Terra: At least he’s comfortable_

_Kairi: He always naps on the job. :D_

 

Riku replied twice. The first was a warning to not give Sora chocolate. The other--

 

_Is he okay?_

 

And then another:

 

_He’s totally snoring isn’t he?_

 

Minnie smiled and quickly replied, letting Riku know that Sora was perfectly safe and that she would be sure he wouldn’t have any chocolate with tea.

 

Sora let out a loud snore and then turned over in this sleep, cuddling up to Pluto a bit more. He let out a sleepy hum and a murmured, “Riku...” before drifting back into a deeper sleep.

 

Minnie giggled and put the phone away, walking over to the door to help the brooms set up for tea. She could wake Sora up in a minute. Let him sleep a little longer and dream of his best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note for Destiny Island section: Okay, so, according to my research, Hoshi is the Japanese word for "star" depending on how it's written, and is generally used for a surname rather than a given name as I've used it here, but... I liked it as a first name. I gave Riku's dad the name "Hotaru" which research showed to mean "firefly." I just liked the idea that Riku's parents were named for lights that only appear after dark. Subtle. I know. XD
> 
> Next chapter will hopefully be out next week!


	4. Fantastic Soras and Where to Find Them, Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, so this is a bit late, and for that I apologize. I wanted to present the best chapter I could, and that required more than a few rewrites of certain sections. I almost wish I had posted all of these "find sora" stories as separate chapters, but at the same time, I'm so glad I didn't. I like longer chapters, but I do apologize for anyone who wishes that they were smaller chunks. And like I said before, this fic was _never supposed to be this long._ Oh well, I enjoyed what I wrote and I hope you guys enjoy reading it! :D
> 
> And the same friend who suggested the pokemon reference also mentioned that Sora is a bit like the Shikon Jewel a bit. Would that make Riku "Inuyasha" or "Kagome"?

_\- Kairi, Riku, & Terra, Kingdom of Corona -_

 

“It looks just like the pictures Sora sent,” Riku muttered softly, glancing around the small castle town on the water. “Down to the festival. Do you think they’re still celebrating the same thing?”

 

“I don’t know,” Kairi shrugged. “We could always ask.”

 

“That looks like an authority figure,” Terra pointed at a man with short brown hair who was pulling awkwardly at his purple vest.

 

Riku nodded, he and Terra walking over first, Kairi trailing just a little bit behind. She was still more than a little worried for her friend. The forced nap had done Riku a lot of good. Though his eyes still had bags under them and his hair was in desperate need of a wash, he wasn’t as paranoid as he had been. He had told her later, after waking up, about the calling in his heart. From the Soras out in the wider universe. She had placed her hands on his and told him that they would find all of them, but Riku couldn’t lead them properly if he was exhausted all the time.

 

That seemed to mollify him a bit and he promised to try and rest more.

 

She knew he could take care of himself but still... she worried.

 

In the time Kairi has had since her second lease on life, she was beginning to realize a few things. Beyond a sudden and pressing need to learn self defence, she felt like she didn’t know herself as well as she should. She had grown up on the Destiny Islands, and very much considered herself an islander. But there was still a part of her that wondered about those hazy recollections of Radiant Garden. What could she learn about herself if she pried that door to her memory open?

 

The second thing Kairi realized was that she didn’t know Riku as well as she used to. His quiet, blushing confession of his feelings for Sora had been a shock and they really shouldn’t have been. This new, confident Riku who followed his heart and looked up to _Sora_ had practically been a stranger to her. She wasn’t used to a Riku who took the time to comfort her rather than tease her.

 

All three of them used to be inseparable: SoraRikuKairi. One unit out to adventure and explore the Destiny Islands and then beyond the distant horizon. But, at some point SoraRikuKairi had become Sora & Riku and Sora & Kairi instead. She couldn’t even name the point where they had started drifting apart.

 

In the end though, she supposed it didn’t matter when the separation began. Not really. What mattered now was that Riku needed her and she felt like she had failed him already. First by monopolizing Sora’s time during the evening before the battle (though she supposed that Sora was equally capable of stepping away to spend time with Riku, she also knew that had been another indication that the three friends had drifted from a trio into two duos). And after the battle and her resurrection, she found herself avoiding Riku when it was clear that the older boy needed someone. She had worried and fretted of course, but she didn’t actually _talk_ with Riku. Not until she found him crying silently one day did she realize that anything was wrong.

 

She had spent so much time feeling sorry for herself, for being the reason her best friend was almost lost forever, that she hadn’t realized that others might be feeling that same pain.

 

Not anymore. She had promised she would protect Sora. She now promised herself that she would offer Riku that same protection. Maybe not from physical harm; she wasn’t nearly strong enough for that like she had thought. But from emotional strain and stress? From the little and the big things that went beyond the physical aches and pains? She could protect them from that.

 

She had to be there for both of them. No more thinking that one needed protection over the other. It was both, or not at all.

 

Lost in her thoughts as she was, Kairi hadn’t realized that she was now so far behind that she nearly lost both Riku and Terra in the crowd till she spotted Terra near one of the buildings, talking to the man in the jacket the brunet had pointed out earlier. She hurried to catch up, dodging around merchants and hopping over stalls full of fresh produce.

 

“Well, the townsfolk _did_ just get their long lost princess back,” The brown haired man was saying still pulling on his vest. “I mean, that’s a good enough reason to celebrate for at least a year, right?”

 

“Of course,” Riku agreed.

 

The man stared at the three of them in thought as Kairi came up to stand next to Riku. “Say... you guys wouldn’t happen to be friends with Sora, would you?”

 

“You know Sora?” Terra questioned, maybe a little too hastily if the way the man backed up was any indication.

 

“Woah, there big guy,” The man chuckled. “Yeah, I know him. Helped me out a few weeks ago getting Rapunzel here. Good thing too. He ended up helping out the whole Kingdom by bringing their princess back. Rapunzel and her parents wanted to thank him, but then he just disappeared.”

 

“He tends to do that,” Riku huffed, traces of a sad grin on his face.

 

“Well, at least he came back though!” The man said, much to their surprise.

 

“Huh?” Kairi tilted her head. “He’s back?”

 

“Yeah! Just showed up right out of the blue again and began dancing in the town center!” The man laughed, “He’s been at it for days now, barely sleeps. Says he’s waiting for the right partner to come along,” The man chuckled and then turned, waving for them to follow him. “C’mon, I’ll show you. The name’s Flyn--er-- Eugene.”

 

“Flynerugene?” Terra asked. “That’s an odd name.”

 

“Like you have room to talk!” the man shouted, then paused, as if just realizing that he didn’t, in fact, knw their names. “Er... I mean, I am sure that you have no room to talk... er...” He trailed off awkwardly, and Kairi took pity on him.

 

“Kairi.” She bowed politely, “And these two are Riku and Terra. And you’re... Flynerugene?”

 

“Just Eugene...” He said, letting out a deep sigh. “And I guess those names aren’t so bad. Matches the odd outfits anyway.”

 

He led them further into town until they reached an open area that must have been the town center. Along the way, he told them a bit more about Sora’s time there.

 

“Sora would drop everything to make Rapunzel happy, even it it meant moving as quietly as possible to take some birds over to her,” Eugene said, “Or he would run through the dandelions with her to watch them fly.”

 

“That sounds like Sora,” Riku laughed, “He probably did it for himself, too.”

 

“You said that Sora helped bring the lost princess back,” Kairi wondered, “That’s Rapunzel, right?”

 

“Yep!” Eugene blushed a bit, and Kairi suddenly wondered what his relationship with Rapunzel was. “She had been... well, kidnapped when she was a baby. She doesn’t even really remember her parents. But, I think coming home has done her a lot of good and she’s the best princess anyone could ask for.” The man looked so proud of that fact.

 

Kairi smiled, then thought back to her own situation. It sounded kind of like what happened to her. Maybe not the kidnapping part, but she was removed from her family and her home at a young age, and those memories were clouded.

 

“Faster, Sora!” Someone called out excitedly, distracting Kairi from her thoughts. The exclamation was followed shortly by a laugh they all recognized.

 

“Sora.” Riku’s voice was soft and he hurried a head, Kairi close on his heels.

 

Sure enough, there were two brunets dancing in the middle. A female with short, choppy hair, and their favorite spiky haired keyblade wielder.

 

“Okay!” Sora cried out. “Here we go!” He spun the young woman around and around, dancing faster and faster in time with the music until they were both laughing hysterically. When the music stopped they both cheered.

 

“Again! Again!”

 

“Another song for the Princess!” the leader of the band shouted out and a different tune started up. The woman with the choppy brown hair laughed, thanking the leader and was then pulled into more dancing by several children.

 

By then Sora had noticed the new audience members. “Riku! Kairi!” He ran over, staring up at Terra in confusion.

 

“Terra,” the taller brunet said, pointing at himself and Sora only hesitated for a moment before nodding, turning excitedly back to his friends.

 

“Riku! Dance with me!”

 

Kairi glanced over, chuckling softly to herself at the redness in Riku’s cheeks.

 

“Not right now, Sora,” The silver haired boy coughed into his fist to try and hide his embarrassment. “How about you ask Kairi?”

 

Now it was Kairi’s turn to blush and Sora looked confused for a moment before nodding, grabbing onto her hand. “Okay! C’mon Kairi, I know all the steps.”

 

By the time they made it out to the center, Kairi wasn’t sure what steps there were to learn, as the dance seemed to be composed mostly of bouncing and clapping in rhythm. She did her best to follow along though, helped by Sora’s gentle grip on her waist and guiding hand in hers. She felt like blushing again, but found herself comfortable in Sora’s embrace.

 

“It’s kinda funny,” Sora chuckled to himself. “I used to imagine dancing with you all the time. I’m so glad we get to do it now, Kairi.” He twirled her out before pulling her back in.

 

“Yeah?” Kairi grinned. “I’m glad too. And I’m glad you’re not stepping on my feet.”

 

“Hey, I’m a fast learner!” Sora stuck his tongue out, then glanced just behind Kairi. When they turned, she saw that he had been staring at Riku and Terra, the former of whom was staring out at the dancers, but didn’t seem to see any of them. A white horse now stood behind them, their guide, Eugene, whispering at the horse.

 

Wait... Whispering at the horse, or _with_ the horse?

 

“What’s wrong with Riku?” Sora wondered, distracting Kairi’s thoughts about whether horses could talk in this world. “Why doesn’t he want to dance with me?”

 

“He probably thought you'd like dancing with me more,” Kairi suggested.

 

“I like dancing with you,” Sora reassured. “I just... I wanted to show Riku this world so much. I wanted to show him _all_ the worlds. And I want him to laugh again, without remembering the darkness. I thought dancing would help.” Though the grin, there was a sadness in his eyes. Disappointment that Riku was pulling away again.

 

Sora was like that. Always concerned most about his best friends.

 

Kairi offered a grin, though she found herself a little miffed at the brunet. It was so easy to love him. His easy smiles and laid back attitude. Back on the islands, everything had seemed so simple. But then, out of her love for him, she launched herself into the messy, complicated world and found herself changed for it. And she was the one who had asked Sora not to change, but that had been the foolish wish of a child. Sora _would_ change and grow, just as she had. He would always be Sora, but he was no longer the fourteen year old boy that she carried in her heart.

 

She spared a brief moment to mourn over that loss. Change was hard, but she would never regret her choice to throw herself into this complex world.

 

When Sora twirled her again, she found herself looking at Riku. He offered her an encouraging grin and a wink, but then his gaze shifted to Sora with such longing that--

 

“Twirl me back over there and try again.” Kairi suggested. Sometimes she would have to force the change herself. “I’ll say I’m tired.”

 

“Okay!” Sora did as suggested, twirling Kairi out of the dance and holding his hand out to Riku again. “C’mon, Riku! Dance with me!”

 

“Nah...” Riku grinned then gently pushed Terra into Sora’s grip. “Take Terra though, he looks like he needs the exercise.”

 

“No way!” Terra protested, but Sora was already pulling him into the dance with a small frown. “I’ve got two left feet!”

 

“Good, you’ll match Sora’s two right!” Riku called out, chuckling at the glare both brunets sent towards him.

 

Kairi let out a small laugh of her own, standing next to Riku by the horse. Eugene had also been cajoled into dancing by the woman with the short brown hair. “Why do you keep doing that? You know Sora’s not gonna let up till he gets at least one dance with you.”

 

“Because... it wouldn’t change anything.” Riku let out a sigh, leaning against the horse behind them. “Sora should save all his dances for you.”

 

“Riku...” Kairi groaned out, “It’s not-- You know it’s not like that.”

 

“Yes, it--.”

 

“You really don’t know?” She interrupted gently, frowning. How could RIku not realize that Sora felt the exact same? “C’mon Riku, you know Sora better than anyone!”

 

Why did her friends have to be such dorks?

 

Riku huffed and crossed his arms, just like when they were younger and he would be thinking, or more likely brooding. Like he was now. She could practically see the storm cloud above his head and despite the tension, she found herself smiling. At least some things hadn’t changed that much. “What’s wrong?”

 

Riku furrowed his brow. “Just... trying to figure out how you know something about Sora that I don’t.”

 

“Oh that’s easy,” Kairi laughed. “Cause you’re a dork.” She ignored his sound of protest. “You’ve never been able to see what was right in front of you the whole time, always focusing on the bigger picture.”

 

Riku huffed, then grinned at her. “I guess it’s good Sora and I have you to keep us on our toes.”

 

“Yep!” She agreed, turning back to look at the dance. Sora was trying to lead Terra through one of the faster rhythms, the older man not kidding when he said he had two left feet. Sora didn’t mind though, swinging an arm through Terra’s and clapping in time to the music.

 

Kairi grinned at their awkwardness, and then her gaze drifted over to Eugene and the woman who must have been Rapunzel. She certainly did look happy. Though Kairi hadn’t known what she was like before, she hoped that Rapunzel was happier than when she had been stuck in tower. She knew Namine still had nightmares about being stuck in Castle Oblivion and she wondered if the two would get along.

 

Suddenly, she was struck with an urge. After all this, after putting Sora back together, she wanted to take Namine to the different worlds. Heck, _Kairi_ wanted to see all the different worlds. She had gotten just a taste of it through these trips, but she wanted to see more. She wanted to talk with Rapunzel and ask how she felt about getting to know her parents again. She wanted to stay longer in Radiant Garden and get to know her own roots. She loved her foster parents, but she also wanted to know where she came from.

 

“You okay Kairi?” Riku asked, laying a hand on her shoulder in concern.

 

“Huh?” Kairi blinked, realizing that the song was dying down, though it was clear that the dancing would continue, probably until nightfall. “Yeah, just... thinking about what Eugene said. About Rapunzel being kidnapped and not remembering her parents. I just, sorta, know what that’s like, I guess.”

 

Riku nodded but didn’t say anything and soon Terra and Sora had circled around again as the music started back up. Their friend let the older brunet go and held his hand out again for Riku to join him.

 

Riku hesitated for a moment but then the horse behind them bodily pushed the boy out, Riku stumbling into Sora’s waiting grip, and then he was whirled away.

 

Kairi grinned at the horse, finding the horse almost smiling back. “Good boy!”

 

The horse neighed excitedly, his tail practically wagging.

 

She turned back to the dance. Instead of the awkward side by side dancing Sora had done with Terra and a few of the other townsmen, he faced Riku completely, holding both of Riku’s hands as they hopped and skipped through the dance. The silver haired boy was following along, a little bemused at Sora’s excitement. Then the brunet must have said something that was lost over the music and the crowd, but she saw the moment Riku threw his head back in laughter, the sound carrying.

 

She suddenly understood what Sora had meant. Ever since their first adventure, or even before it, Riku’s true laughs had been quiet and reserved. Not like when they were younger and Riku would laugh with abandon. He did so again now, and Kairi realized why Sora would have missed it.

 

It was a beautiful sound.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Kairi blinked at Terra’s question, and realized a tear had slipped out of her eye and she hurried to wipe it away. “Sorry, it’s nothing. Just... realizing that my friends are kinda dorks.”

 

“Yeah?” Terra looked back out at the dancing as well. Now Sora had encouraged Riku to take the lead, wrapping the silver haired boy’s hands around the brunet’s waist, Sora eagerly following where ever Riku led. “I’ve heard Ven call Aqua and I dorks at least once or twice. Didn’t ever think it was anything to cry over...”

 

“Just once or twice?” Kairi innocently questioned, laughing when Terra clapped her gently on the shoulder.

 

“Point is: They may be dorks, but they’ll get it. Eventually.”

 

“Yeah...” Kairi nodded.

 

There would be time later to encourage this Sora to get on the gummiship, to return him to the larger whole, and he’d probably wiggle and hop the whole way there.

 

But for now, watching her best friends dance was bringing her enough joy to last a lifetime.

 

_\- Xion & Rikuto, Prankster's Paradise -_

 

“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?” Lea questioned. Isa stood behind him, arms also crossed in concern.

 

Xion offered a grin, knowing that Lea was just worried. “I’ll be fine. Besides...” She glanced down to where Rikuto was talking with Roxas. “I think I kinda want to get to know him. Rikuto, I mean.”

 

Lea tilted his head in confusion. “Oh? Oh!” his frown shifted into a smirk. “Get to know him, huh? Do Roxas and I need to have a tal--”

 

“Not like that!” Xion protested, laughing. She hear Isa echoing that laugh, though a little quieter. “I just mean he and I are--were-- the original viable replicas from Vexen’s experiments. I just-- you know we have something in common that not everyone else has. Not even Roxas, even though it’s in a replica body now too and--”

 

“I get it,” Lea said, giving her a quick hug and ruffling her hair, something she had found comforting lately. “Text us when you find Sora, and we’ll pick you up.”

 

“Don’t get too carried away with all the attractions,” Isa added. “You’re on a mission.”

 

“No mission report though, right?” Xion teased, and Isa gave a small grin in return.

 

“Deal...”

 

She chuckled, offering them both a grin and exiting the gummiship, high-fiving Roxas as the blonde climbed back in.

 

Xion waved as the gummiship flew off again, then turned to her companion, in the process getting her first real look at the world.  

 

“Well this is...” Rikuto trailed off, clearly at a loss on how to describe it.  

 

“Bright,” Xion finished, then flinched and covered her ears when the roller coaster ran by. “Loud.”

 

“Colorful,” Rikuto added.

 

Xion agreed. The mixture of colors looked nearly garish, and the neon lights were blinding.

 

Still, they had a lead after Jiminy had called, saying he had followed Pinocchio to the amusement park one day, and was surprised to find Sora there.

 

_And it’s strange! He’s younger than he should be! -_ The cricket had typed in his text. After Chip and Dale brought him up to speed, Jiminy agreed to try and catch up with Sora, at least to keep an eye on him until someone flew out to get him.

 

She hadn’t expected all this. She kinda half wished she had gone on to Arendelle instead. The pictures Riku had shared from Sora’s many texts had shown what looked to be a peaceful mountain side. And the snow looked quiet.

 

“Maybe they’re in that building over there...” Rikuto pointed to a stark white building with red doors and a sign overhead proclaiming: _Maze of Mirrors!_

 

Xion frowned, wondering how a mirror could be a maze, but she nodded and followed him to the building.

 

As soon as they got close she could hear a clear voice call out “But Jiminy! Donald and Goofy and Riku might still be here.” It sounded like it came from deeper in the building.

 

“C’mon!” Rikuto shouted, quickly entering maze, and disappearing out of sight.

 

“Wait!” Xion hurried to catch him.

 

When she was faced with reflections of herself, she suddenly realized how mirrors could be a maze. It was nearly impossible to tell which way she was supposed to go.

 

“Xion!” Rikuto called out,.

 

She thought she saw him, but when she ran up, he moved in another direction, and she realized it had just been his reflection. She backed up, and tried to go another way, but ran into another mirror.

 

“Who thought this was a good idea?” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes to try and gather her sense of direction. Maybe if she kept a hand on the glass?

 

She opened her eyes, then let out a short shriek.

 

The reflection in front of her was her, but at the same time... not the person she was now.

 

“Xion?” Rikuto yelled out at the same time she heard Sora call for Kairi.

 

She could barely hear them over the roar in her head. Her reflection stared back at her from underneath a black hood. She backed away, finding an opening behind her and darting down another corridor lined with mirrors. But it didn’t help. Every mirror she looked into was the same reflection.

 

A puppet. She was nothing more than a puppet that could be copied. Over and over and over again.

 

“Xion?”

 

She flinched when a hand made contact with her shoulder. Blinking open eyes she hadn’t realized she closed, she found herself looking at Rikuto. Behind him, she saw another mirror, but this one showed the proper reflection.

 

“What’s wrong?” He tilted his head in confusion, “You were screaming.”

 

“I was?” but she then felt the hoarseness in her throat. She had been. “Sorry. The mirrors...” She shook her head. “Sorry.” It was stupid. She took a seat on the ground, needing to feel grounded for a moment.

 

“You were reminded that you were a replica.” Rikuto’s voice was soft and sure. “I get it.” He took a seat next to her, leaning against the mirror. “I asked Mom--Riku’s mom, if we could take the mirrors out of Riku’s room. At least for a little bit.” He shrugged, “Every time I looked in them...”

 

“You saw Riku, before you saw yourself.” She nodded, pulling her knees up to her chest. “I saw myself in the black hood this time, but... Sometimes, when I look in a mirror, I see Sora. That’s who I was supposed to replicate.”

 

“Well, you threw a wrench into that plan,” Rikuto teased.

 

“Not entirely of my doing.”

 

“You became who you wanted to be.” Rikuto nodded, as if reassuring himself as well. Then he let out a laugh, “Look at us. The first two viable replicas and we can’t even look in a mirror without freaking out.”

 

“Another reason Vexen would probably label us failures.”

 

“I would rather be a failed experiment than working for _them_.”

 

“Right.” She grinned and nodded. “I’m glad to be a failed experiment with you!”

 

He let out a chuckle, “Likewise.”

 

“Riku?!” A voice called out.

 

Xion just happened to look in a mirror and nearly gasped again when Sora was reflected. But then she realized that was because Sora was actually here.

 

And sprinting towards them.

 

“Riku? What are you up to?”

 

Xion frowned. She had never heard Sora sound so harsh when talking to his best friend. But, then again, she really hadn’t had many opportunities to hear them converse either. It just seemed out of character for him.

 

“Sora!” another voice cried out, though quieter. “Riku’s your friend. No reason to get angry.”

 

“But he’s siding with the heartless!” Sora shouted back, “So then--”

 

“I’m not on anyone’s side,” Rikuto cut in. “I’m just--”

 

“Kairi!” Sora interrupted, running over to Xion.

 

Xion felt her heart drop. It had been one thing when the young Sora had innocently called her Kairi. An older Sora, one closer in age to the one she considered her friend, calling her Kairi felt worse for some reason.

 

“Kairi!” Sora called again kneeling down to her level and laying a hand on her shoulder “What happened to your hair? Did Riku do--”

 

“I’m not Kairi!” She huffed out, unable to keep the frustration out of her voice.

 

“What?” Sora tilted his head confused. “But Kai--”

 

“Back off, Sora,” Rikuto murmured, visibly pushing the other boy away. “You don’t know what’s going on.”

 

“I do too!”

 

“Sora!” the fourth voice called out again, “I think we all need to take a deep breath and calm down. Then you should listen to what your friend is trying to tell you.”

 

Xion suddenly recognized the voice as Jiminy when the cricket hopped off Sora’s shoulder to stand between the three of them.

 

“But--” Sora looked ready to argue, but Rikuto held a hand in front of his face.

 

“I like it better when he’s asleep,” the silver haired boy muttered. “He’s much easier to deal with.”

 

“I guess it’s a good thing we found this one,” Xion said, standing up. “I’m not sure how Riku would handle hearing his best friend angry with him.”

 

“It’s not the first time,” Rikuto noted.

 

“I’m right here!” Sora stamped his foot. “And you are too, Riku. What is Kai--”

 

“Okay, first off,” Rikuto interrupted, “What is the last thing you remember, Sora?”

 

“Huh?” Sora flinched back, “What do you mean? You were _there_! You just ran away with Kairi from Hook’s ship.”

 

_Ahh... no wonder Sora’s angry_ , Xion realized. _This Sora is from his first journey._ She had read Jiminy’s account of it once Data Sora had removed all the bugs.

 

She supposed things must have seemed black and white to Sora back then.

 

“Well, that wasn’t me,” Rikuto stated, “I’m a replica of the Riku you know, but we’re _not_ the same. So don’t get mad at me over something he did. Which, trust me, he’s very sorry for.”

 

_Understatement_ , Xion thought.

 

“And I’m Xion,” she introduced herself. “I know I look like Kairi, but I’m not.” She saw Sora’s face go from confused to slightly suspicious. It might be beneficial to just be honest. “Please, we’re not trying to trick you. We’re friends! There was an accident, and your heart was split apart.”

 

“I’m... split apart?” Sora blinked, and then held a hand up over his chest. “But I don’t feel any different.”

 

“What happened before you saw Riku on Hook’s ship?” Rikuto asked. “Who helped you when you were there?”

 

“Donald, Goofy and I were--” Sora frowned, cutting himself off. “Were... I can’t--” He looked like he was about to panic. “And there was someone helping us?” The frown deepened. “Why can’t I--?” He looked nervous, and maybe a little scared.

 

Xion was about to reach out to comfort him, but Rikuto was there first, wrapping an arm around the brunet’s shoulders. “Don’t worry. Riku’s putting you back together.”

 

“Riku is?” In a blink, Sora’s frown flipped into a smile. “I knew he would see the light!”

 

“See it, pine for it...” Rikuto muttered under his breath, pulling away when the brunet’s smile only grew. “Nearly die several times over _‘it.’_ ”

 

Xion chuckled when Sora tilted his head in confusion. “You’ll see someday. But for now, won’t you come back with us? Donald and Goofy are there too.”

 

“They are?!” Sora grinned, swinging his arms behind his head. “Okay! Do you guys have a gummiship then? Cause I’m not sure where I parked mine.”

 

“Well,” Xion pulled out her phone, ignoring Sora’s curious gaze. “I have to text my friend for a ride back, but it shouldn’t be too long.”

 

“Do you think we’ll have time to check out the Ferris Wheel then?” Sora exclaimed. “Or maybe the roller coaster?!”

 

Xion remembered the loud roller coaster, with all the hills and turns. Her stomach turned at the thought. “I’ll leave you and Rikuto to go do that. I’ll just... sit quietly on a bench.”

 

“Okay!”

 

Xion grinned, suddenly remembering that no matter how angry Sora got, his temper was also quick to diffuse. She held up her phone, “How about one quick picture though?” She held it out, “Smile!”

 

Sora was confused for a moment, but grinned brightly when Rikuto wrapped an arm around his shoulders again. Xion quickly took the picture, “Okay. I’ll text Roxas and let him know we’re ready. You guys go enjoy the rides.”

 

“Alright!” Sora quickly dragged Rikuto away and this time Xion followed close behind to not get lost in the maze again. She felt a sudden presence on her shoulder and found Jiminy taking refuge there.

 

“Riku must be running himself ragged tracking all the Soras down,” the cricket huffed.

 

“Probably,” Xion agreed, flinching a little when they exited the maze and she was faced with all the lights and sounds of the carnival again. Rikuto and Sora ran off to get in line for the roller coaster. “But he has a lot of help, too.”

 

She sent the picture off to Roxas letting him know that they were ready to be picked up. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she sent it off to Riku too.

 

Roxas replied shortly afterwards, sending her a different picture of a slightly older Sora hiding behind a pillar of some sort. _Hopefully be there soon. Sora’s an idiot and won’t take his cold medicine._

 

She laughed, taking a seat on a bench near the roller coaster. Her phone buzzed again, this time with a response from Riku.

 

_Why is is such a dork at any age?_

 

After just another moment of hesitation, she replied. _But you love him._

 

As soon as she sent it, she nearly regretted it. But... it was the truth. She didn’t think Riku would have fought so hard, sacrificed so much, if he didn’t deeply care for the brunet. Even if it wasn’t in a romantic sense. Though she was pretty sure it was.

 

Her phone buzzed again.

 

_I love a total dork then. Tell Rikuto that he better not give Sora any chocolate._

 

She chuckled again and quickly agreed.

 

They would find the scattered pieces and get their friend back.

 

_\- Lea, Isa, & Roxas, Arendelle -_

 

“I can’t believe Sora managed to catch a cold within a few hours,” Lea muttered, watching Roxas chase the brunet around with a bottle of “Oaken’s Cold Remedy,” trying to get Sora to take it. Sora was somehow still faster, even after sneezing every few feet.

 

“It did come on rather fast,” Anna laughed. “Elsa just got over hers. We were glad that he was here for the belated birthday party though. And he brought all his little brothers!”

 

“Not brothers,” the 8-year-old Sora next to her protested, then wiggled off the chair to go play with the walking, talking snowman, Olaf.

 

Lea was still trying to get used to the _walking_ and _talking_ part.

 

Anna ran off to join them, helping tie a blindfold around Sora’s eyes so he could play “pin the carrot on the snowman.”

 

“We have been lucky in that all of the Soras found so far have not been injured or otherwise,” Isa whispered quietly to not disturb the other mini Sora currently napping on his shoulder. “Surprising, really, considering how many young one’s we’ve stumbled across.”

 

Lea shrugged, “Maybe Sora’s just really good at finding people to trust.”

 

Isa hummed and looked pointedly down at the Sora napping in his arms. That one, barely older than an infant, had stumbled right up to the blue haired man as soon as they walked into the castle courtyard, lifted his arms and insisted “Up!”

 

Lea chuckled. No matter what Isa would say about him adopting lost puppies, Isa was the one who could never say no for long when it came to the little ones. Not to mention the blue haired man looked kind of cute with a toddler in his arms. “You were never untrustworthy, just...” He trailed off, not sure of the word he was looking for.

 

“Blinded?” Isa offered.

 

“Driven,” Lea settled on.

 

“Dammit, Sora!” Roxas called out, glaring as Sora literally airstepped to get away from him. “Would you just take your medicine so I can drag your ass back to Riku?”

 

“I have the sudden urge to wash his mouth out with soap,” Isa muttered and Lea couldn’t help the laugh that burst out. “There are children around.”

 

“Man, that sounds like something your mom would have said,” Lea chuckled, shielding his eyes against the bright sunlight. Sora looked to be internally debating if taking the medicine would be worth seeing Riku.

 

Roxas was fuming, walking briskly over to where Lea and Isa stood, medicine in hand. “If he wants to go see Riku, he has to take the medicine. So he _has_ to come down eventually.”

 

“I didn’t think Sora would be one to avoid taking medicine,” Lea observed.

 

“He gags at the taste and hates it. Usually Riku or his Mom has to trick him into taking it,” Roxas muttered.

 

“I thought you didn’t have memories from your somebody life.” Isa pointed out.

 

Roxas stared at the older man wearily, and Lea could tell when his friend was still debating trusting someone. “I don’t. I texted Riku about five minutes ago. He said to try bribing Sora.”

 

Lea wondered briefly how many texts Riku was getting due to this mission of theirs. No one else but Kairi seemed to know how to handle Sora at any age, and even she deferred to the other boy sometimes.

 

“Riku?”

 

Lea glanced over to the woman who had greeted them at the gates earlier, Anna’s sister, Elsa. “Yeah, he’s Sora’s--”

 

“Friend,” Elsa completed, “Sora told me about him during the party. Apparently, I reminded him of Riku a bit.”

 

Roxas tilted his head, “Do you brood and pine all the time? Run away from your problems?”

 

Lea chuckled nervously, ruffling Roxas’s hair. “I’m sure that Riku has several other qualities that remind Sora of--”

 

“Actually,” Elsa admitted quietly, “It was mostly that last one. When I first met Sora, I was running away from my problems. I had convinced myself that I could only keep Anna safe by staying away from her.”

 

“Isn’t Anna your sister?” Roxas questioned, “How could you be a danger to her?”

 

Elsa hummed quietly then raised a hand. A wave of snow burst out, forming a swirl in the air several times before drifting to the ground. Lea was amazed by the display; it was very powerful ice magic that he wasn’t sure even Vexen could have conjured. “I didn’t have good control over it till recently, and I hurt her. I couldn’t live with myself if I had done it again.”

 

“Oh.” Roxas crossed his arms, “Yeah, I can see how that would remind Sora of Riku.”

 

“Yeah, but Riku figured it out!” Sora exclaimed from his perch on top of the building, evidently having decided to not climb down quite yet. “Cutting me out like that just hurt worse. He didn’t mean to hurt me, and I already forgave him for that.”

 

“Just like I forgave Elsa,” Anna said, coming around to wrap an arm around her sister.

 

“Yeah,” Elsa agreed.

 

Suddenly there were several loud sneezes above them as Sora’s cold flared up. The brunet lost his balance on the roof and would have crashed to the ground painfully if Elsa hadn’t quickly created an icy slide into snow pile to smooth out his landing.

 

Sora groaned when he sat up, “You know... snow isn’t quite as soft as I imagined it to be back on the islands.”

 

“Still saved your butt,” Roxas muttered as the brunet finally walked up to him. “Ready to take your medicine?”

 

“Umm...” Sora still looked unsure.

 

In a flash, Isa grabbed his nose till Sora had to open his mouth to breath. “Now, Roxas!”

 

Quickly, Roxas poured out a dose onto the spoon and shoved it in Sora’s mouth. The brunet gagged and tried to spit it out, but ended up swallowing most of it. “Ugh! Guys!”

 

“Nice move,” Roxas said as he put the cap back on the medicine. “Where’d you lean that?”

 

“Lea was rather stubborn about taking medicine as well,” Isa muttered.

 

Roxas huffed out a laugh and nodded, “I can see that. Must have been difficult to take care of him.”

 

“Always a headache,” the taller man admitted, which only made Roxas laugh harder.

 

Lea groaned. He should have known that introducing his friends to one another would lead to them ganging up on him. Even Sora seemed to have forgotten about the medicine and was grinning.

 

“I’m glad Saix is on our side now,” the brunet noted, before running off to go play with the snowman and his younger self, dragging Roxas along with him.

 

Lea figured they could play till Sora began to get sleepy. Drowsiness was listed as one of the side effects.

 

Elsa and Anna wandered off as well, leaving Isa, Lea, and the still sleeping toddler Sora behind. When he turned, he found the other man gently touching his face.

 

Right where the x-shaped still lingered.

 

Lea was suddenly reminded of Elsa’s comment earlier, about not having control over her powers. “Does it hurt?”

 

“Hmm? No.” Isa shook his head, pulling his hand away, “I wasn’t sure if scars that we received as nobodies would carry over to re-completion.” He huffed, “But I suppose we still injured our own bodies. I don’t blame you for it, you know. I never did.”

 

“How could you not?!” Lea exclaimed. He had thought for sure that Isa would hold some grudge. “I nearly burned your face off!”

 

“On accident,” Isa muttered, running a hand down the miniature Sora’s back when the little one twitched in his sleep. “You were still learning your powers. None of us knew how the spells were amplified by our apparent lack of hearts.”

 

“Yeah. I guess...” He supposed that, while he may not have physically run away like Elsa and Riku, he did run away emotionally, scared that Isa hated him. Instead he focused on helping Saix achieve his goal, always trying to make it up to him. Until Roxas came along.

 

“I’m still sorry,” he huffed instead. “Sorry for making you feel that I was leaving you behind. I never thought that--”

 

“I know,” the other boy said quietly, “As I said before, I was blinded.”

 

“By jealousy.”

 

“I told you that you wouldn’t get me to say it again,” Isa huffed.

 

Lea chuckled in response.

 

Neither man was surprised when Roxas dragged Sora back over a minute later, the brunet nearly falling asleep where he stood. The younger version that had been playing with the snowman was also looking a little more tired.

 

Lea wondered if the medicine that one Sora took affected all three of them.

 

Suddenly the gates opened again, admitting a young man and reindeer.

 

Both of the Soras who had been nearly about to fall asleep perked up, racing over to the reindeer. “Sven!”

 

Luckily, the reindeer didn’t seem to mind the attention, huffing out a greeting. The man handed a carrot to the younger Sora, who eagerly held it out for it to be gobbled up by Sven.

 

“Kristoff!” Anna exclaimed, running over and kissing the man on the cheek. “Did you find them all?”

 

“Yep,” Kristoff huffed, “Every last snogie is in the sleigh and ready to be shipped off to Marshmallow. Olaf and I can take them up the mountain whenever.”

 

“Ohh, we get to go on a trip?” The snowman piped up, walking over. Lea decided that he was never going to get used to this weirdness. “How exciting!”

 

“It’s less of a trip and more of a delivery, which you make with me every day when we deliver ice,” Kristoff muttered, then looked at the older Sora. “Did you get your medicine?”

 

Sora stuck out his tongue. “Yeah, Roxas was mean and shoved it down my throat.”

 

“I could still make grandpappy’s recipe. That will make you feel better!” Kristoff offered.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Lea spotted Anna grimacing.

 

“Take the medicine and run,” Olaf whispered, and Sora laughed in response.

 

“Thanks but I’m good. My friends are gonna take me and, um, well, the rest of me home again. I guess.” He turned to Roxas. “Is that right?”

 

“Close enough,” Roxas agreed. “C’mon, if you’re ready. We parked by the foot of the mountain.”

 

“If you guys are headed that way, we can drop you off,” Kristoff offered.

 

“That would be better than walking,” Isa agreed easily.

 

As the youngest Sora had still not woken up from his nap, Isa chose to carry him in the sleigh. On their way over, Lea heard Roxas mention that if baby Sora trusted Isa, then the blonde supposed the older man couldn’t be that bad.

 

_It’s a start,_ Lea supposed.

 

“Feel free to come back anytime,” Anna offered,”We’re not used to visitors, but we love them all the same.”

 

“We’ll be back!” Sora called back. “And next time I’ll bring Riku!”

 

“I look forward to meeting him!” Elsa agreed.

 

Lea let out a huff. It still kind of amazed him that Sora could make friends anywhere. He could barely remember what that was like, to care about what others thought or felt and just connected with them over a short conversation.

 

That last time Lea had tried that...

 

Well... he supposed even that small connection had lasted a lifetime.

 

_\- Riku, The Caribbean -_

 

Riku let out a sigh, absently raising a hand to run through his hair, but met cool damp fabric instead.

 

Right.... His “costume” of this world. Donald had warned him.

 

He supposed it was close enough to his usual wear: his jacket morphed into a loose fitting vest and undershirt, his cropped pants now tied with a drawstring, and swaths of fabric across his waist and hair. He could feel the dirt and sweat sticking to his skin, and figured it only added to the disguise.

 

Asking around this port town has not yielded any results to the whereabouts of a Sora, but Goofy and Donald were adamant that one would be here. It was one of Sora’s favorite worlds to visit and Riku could understand why. Their favorite pretend game growing up had been pirates, excited by the stories of swashbucklers and treasure hunters in the old Destiny Island legends. It wasn’t until they were much older that Riku had understood that not all pirates were good, and many were downright vicious and evil. Still, the idea of being free of ties to land and living on the sea had been enchanting while young, and it was a naivete that Sora had never really grown out of.

 

Luckily, it appeared that there were two distinct (ish) bands of pirates in this world. Those who pillaged, plundered and murdered for fun, and those were labeled pirates because they chose not to always obey the authority figures in town.  

 

And (thankfully) it appeared that the times that Sora was here, he always sided with the less murderous lot. And Riku was even more grateful that the brunet was never caught. He had seen the bodies hanging just outside the bay and the thought that Sora might have been one of them--

 

Riku shook his head to clear those thoughts. Sora _wasn’t_ one of those bodies. He was still here and alive and Riku just needed to find him.

 

“Looking for something, love?”

 

Riku felt his entire face heat up, both at the words and the blatantly flirty tone. He recognized that voice. But it was so much... deeper than he last remembered. More mature. Quickly, he swung around, facing a familiar grin that held just a slight edge to it, a gold tooth glinting in the dim light of the bar.

 

“Or are you looking for _someone_?”

 

“Sora!” Riku gasped, for that was the only person it could have been. The spiky hair was hidden beneath a tricorn hat and blue bandanna, but the grin and the eyes, still so blue even in this dark and dirty world. Sora was beautiful all the time, but in this outfit...Riku felt his mouth go a bit dry and he was suddenly extremely grateful his pants were on the loose side. There was something else a bit odd about the brunet though. “You’re, uh, older?”

 

“Hey, my heart got shattered and sent across space and time. Of course, an older version might have ended up somewhere.” Sora let out a chuckle, swiping a finger under his nose which brought Riku’s undivided attention to the patchy stubble that now grew on the man’s face. It also brought focus to the fact that Sora was now nearly his own height, slightly taller if you included the hat.

 

“So, you’ll finally hit that growth spurt?” Riku choked out between his own chuckles. He estimated that the Sora now in front of him was at least three to five years older than the Sora he had last seen whole.

 

“Maybe?” Sora tilted his head, “You still haven’t technically succeeded in bringing me back yet, so, who knows?”

 

That cut Riku’s laughter short. “Oh. I’m... sorry it’s taking so long.”

 

Sora shook his head, taking both of Riku’s hands in his. “No, Riku. That’s not it. I’m just saying, I’m a...well, I’m like a possibility. A Sora who might be?” He frowned, “A Sora who wants to be?”

 

“But you’re still my Sora,” Riku said, then felt his already red face heat up even more. _Did I really just say that out loud?!_

 

Sora laughed, his shoulders shaking with mirth. “Of course, Riku! I’ll always be _your_ Sora.” He then pulled the silver haired boy towards the bar, holding up two fingers to order something and then passed Riku a mug of whatever the flavor of the night was.

 

Riku took one sip and grimaced, wondering how anyone could choke this down. He glanced over at Sora and was somewhat amused to find the brunet in a similar situation.

 

Sora stuck his tongue out. “I still don’t see how Jack can drink that stuff.”

 

“Is that where you’ve been?” Riku wondered, taking another hesitant sip. “Out pirating with Jack and his crew?”

 

“Uh, kinda. Technically Barbossa found me on a deserted island-- he commands the Black Pearl now, so I guess Jack is gonna steal her back at some point. But he was nice enough to get me back here. Ran into Jack in town and helped him out of jail. Then I heard about this weird guy with silver hair asking around for a spiky haired brunet. So...” Sora grinned and bumped his elbow into Riku’s bicep.

 

Riku sighed and elbowed Sora back, but then burst into a round of chuckles. “I suppose this is better than having to find your ass on a deserted island.”

 

Sora laughed and wrapping and arm around Riku’s shoulders. “At least we get a drink together!”

 

Teal eyes closed as Riku leaned in, breathing in Sora’s musky smell and slightly alcoholic breath as he laughed. He imagined for a moment that it was _his_ Sora, back in the Destiny islands. He would have taken Sora out for his seventeenth birthday, and gotten that drink that Riku had put off until Sora’s coming of age. They would have had a blast getting just tipsy enough that everything was hilarious and Kairi would have made sure they got home safely (they had struck that deal when Sora had turned fourteen.) His own birthday hadn’t been nearly as fun without Sora there to tease him.

 

Suddenly, he felt a presence on his other side, a warmth that leaned in way too close. Blinking, he opened his eyes to find a woman with long brunette hair and blue eyes grinning cheekily at him. “What’s so funny, loves? Can I get in on the joke?” Her smile widened as she ran a hand gently down Riku’s arm. “Or you and I can go share some more laughs somewhere private?”

 

“I--uh--No thanks!” Riku hurried to try and back away from the woman, but also not really wanting to offend her either. She was just doing her job.

 

“Not this one, dearie...” Sora chuckled, waving the woman off with a gentle hand, his voice pitched in an accent Riku had never heard before. “He’s got someone at home waitin’ for him. But, I hear there’s a bloke down near the docks that would probably appreciate your company. Goes by the name of Captain Jack.”

 

The woman immediately rolled her eyes. “Not Jack Sparrow.”

 

Sora laughed. “Hey, at least you know you’ll get a good story out of it!”

 

The woman huffed, but then let out a grin, backing away and perusing the bar for more customers.

 

“That’s a part of this world I’ll never understand,” Sora mused, running a finger around the rim of his mug. “Elizabeth could be a pirate. Why can’t all these women be pirates too? Why... sell themselves?”

 

“Maybe they think that’s the only way they can gain their own freedom,” Riku muttered softly, “We don’t have to agree with it, but it’s also not our world to get involved in.”

 

“Right.” Sora nodded, draining his mug in one gulp and slamming it back down on the counter. “So, you didn’t let me lie to her though, right? You _are_ waiting for someone back home?” The brunet winked, already knowing Riku’s answer.

 

Riku felt his face heat up again. “Even if I was, I fail to see how it’s your business.”

 

“Suppose that all depends on who you’re waiting for,” Sora grinned, grabbing on to the hand Riku had kept clenched under the table. “Like I said to her, he’s waiting on you, too.”

 

Riku struggled not to blush even more, though he could see Sora grin in amusement out of the corner of his eye.

 

“I forget how shy and nervous you were at this age. It’ll be okay, Riku.”

 

The pressure on his hand lifted. Riku’s head whipped back around. “Wait! How can you forget something if--” _if you’re just a possibility?_

 

But Riku didn’t have time to get the words out. Sora was already radiating with light and fading, Demyx’s idea of the Sora magnet already bringing the Soras together from farther and farther away. Sora met his confused and concerned stare with a grin, holding a finger to his lips briefly and then fading away entirely.

 

Riku started for a bit at the place he had last seen his friend. None of the other residents seemed to think anything was amiss. Though the barkeep was eyeing him with suspicion now.

 

With a start, Riku realized that Sora had left him to pick up the tab. With a groan, he began searching his pockets for munny, uttering a phrase he had heard repeated throughout town.

 

“Bloody pirates...”

 

_\- Aiko, Destiny Islands -_

 

Aiko sighed as she saved the document on her computer, putting the papers back into the proper files and making a list for the next day. She brushed graying brunette strands out of her face, putting her pen down.

 

As she stood up, her hand knocked into a small picture frame and she lingered over the image of Sora she had kept on her desk. He was so young... much younger than the first time he had disappeared. Young enough that she could still hold him in her arms and stop any danger from happening to him.

 

There were other pictures too, of course. Pictures of Sora and Riku and Kairi in their school uniforms and at the beach. Pictures of the day Sora got his first rowboat, Riku’s fourteenth birthday, and when Kairi had won the spelling bee at school.

 

But then pictures stopped. Sora hadn’t been home long enough during that brief period between adventures. Really just long enough for a few family dinners, maybe to get some halfway decent rest. Then he and Riku were off again, followed by Kairi shortly afterwards.

 

She had caught a few words before they were out the door. A King, a keyblade, different worlds, keeping the ‘world order.’ Things that hadn’t made sense at the time. She still hadn’t believed most of it till she saw some kind of rocket ship departing from the play island.

 

But he came home to her once, he could do it again.

 

But then...

 

_Aiko stopped work when she heard the knock at the door. “Sora?” Quickly she ran down the hall, flinging the door open. “Sora?!”_

 

_Sora wasn’t there._

 

_Instead, Riku and Kairi stood at her porch, Riku’s head bowed low while it looked like Kairi was holding back tears._

 

_Aiko’s heart dropped. It couldn’t-- “Riku, where’s Sora?”_

 

_He tried to meet her gaze, but let out a short quick shake of his head._

 

_She stepped forward. “Riku, you look at me. Where is my son?”_

 

_“We don’t know!” Kairi cried out. When Aiko looked over, she saw the tears streaming down the redhead’s face. “We don’t-- I don’t know what happened! He was there and then he wasn’t and--” She hiccuped another sob, practically choking on them as she tried to stop._

 

_“I’m sorry, Mama Aiko,” Riku whispered, and with a start, she realized that the boy was also crying. “I’m so sorry...”_

 

It had been a difficult story to listen to, but she insisted that they tell all of it. Then she called Daichi home from work, and made them tell the whole story again.

 

Daichi had understood even less than she did. All they could figure was that their son was missing, and probably permanently. Missing didn’t mean dead though. Riku had reassured her of that, between the tears that he still tried to hide.

 

_“You just have to hold him in your heart,” Riku had said. “He can follow that light back.”_

 

She didn’t quite understand what that meant. But she figured it might have been hope. Hope that her son would return to her. Someday.

 

Daichi hadn’t been able to deal well with his only child gone, possibly forever. He launched himself into work, only coming home to eat and rest when Aiko insisted. Most days she had dinner with Hoshi, who had an equal amount of grief.

 

In a fit of anger one day, Aiko had lashed out.

 

_“At least your son’s not--! Not--” She couldn’t finish. Couldn’t say what she really thought._

 

_Hoshi had stopped from where she had been trying to hug Aiko. “You’re right. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not grieving for him. Unless you really think that the Riku who came home is the same as the one who left.”_

 

It had taken time, but Aiko had realized what her friend meant. They rarely saw Riku on the islands since that day. Kairi had disappeared soon afterwards, claiming that she had more training to do. But Riku was known to occasionally walk the beach front, or row out to the play island and sit there for hours. Maybe days. Aiko knew that he never returned home, much to Hoshi’s disappointment. Except for once. When he dropped off another boy who looked like a younger Riku.

 

Hoshi had taken the boy in. Aiko was a little jealous, but, at the same time, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to accept a boy who just looked like Sora. She wanted the real thing, whole and safe in her arms.

She let out a sob, feeling a tear slip free and she hurriedly brushed it away, though more followed.

 

“I’m trying, Sora,” She whispered to the picture, Sora’s bright grin reflecting back at her, forever frozen in time. “I’m trying to have hope.”

 

With a sigh, she turned off the lamp, grabbed her now cold cup of tea and exited her work space. She could get started on dinner, maybe call and ask Daichi if he would be home tonight.

 

“Mom?”

 

Aiko stopped in her tracks. That... couldn’t have been--

 

“Mom? Where’s dinner? I’m starving!”

 

Quickly, Aiko rushed through the small house, stopping in her tracks at the kitchen, her tea slipping from her grasp and crashing to the floor.

 

“Mom!”

 

She heard more than saw him run over. He was still... the same spiky brown hair, so hard to tame as he got older. The large shoes the salesman swore he would grow into. Knobby knees and elbows, still stretched out from his latest growth spurt.

 

It was Sora...

 

But it wasn’t-- it couldn’t have been her Sora.

 

“Mom? What’s wrong?” Sora, no _impossible_ Sora, took a step closer, something crunching under his shoe. One of the shards from the now shattered mug. “Oops... I’ll go get paper towels to clean that up!”

 

There was the sounds stuff rattling in the kitchen. So it wasn’t a hallucination. Unless she was hallucinating that too. She couldn’t make herself move to go check.

 

“Mom? Where at the paper towels?”

 

Right. She had moved them. Sora, _her_ Sora, had asked as well when he had been home for those few short weeks.

 

“Mom?” The boy asked again, evidently worried when she hadn’t moved or answered his question. “Mom, are you okay?”

 

She feared answering. It was bad to answer a hallucination, right?

 

The boy frowned and moved away and out of sight. Aiko let out a sigh of relief. Maybe it was over?

 

But then the boy returned, the house phone clutched awkwardly in his hand. On the other line, she could just barely make out another voice.

 

_“Let me talk to your mom, Sora...”_

 

Hoshi?

 

Sora nodded and held out the phone, “It’s Mama Hoshi...” He whispered, his face towards the floor.

 

Shakily, Aiko took the phone. Hallucinations couldn’t pass over phones...right?

 

“H...Hello?”

 

“Take a deep breath, Aiko.” Hoshi’s voice was so calm and reassuring, that Aiko could only do as requested.

 

She took a deep breath, then another, leaning against the wall for support. “Hoshi, he’s here. Sora’s--”

 

“I know, Ai...” Hoshi sounded like she was letting out a sigh, then a ‘I’m so gonna have a talk with him...’ was muttered under her breath before she returned to the phone. “Aiko, I’m not gonna explain it very well, but I need you to listen and answer my questions. The Sora there, how old is he?”

 

“How old--?” Aiko frowned. Her son was sixteen, nearly seventeen. Would be---would have been seventeen in a month. Hoshi knew that. “He’s sixt--”

 

“No Aiko. The Sora that is right there in your kitchen. Look, really, _really_ look at him. How old is he?”

 

“He’s...” Aiko looked, suddenly realizing what Hoshi meant. She had noticed earlier but it hadn’t made sense then. “He’s younger than he should be.”

 

“How young?”

 

“Fourteen... I think?”

 

There was another long sigh from the other end of the line. “Right. Now... Damn, I really don’t know how to explain this one. But, that _is_ Sora. Okay? Really. There was... an accident. But Riku’s got it covered.”

 

Despite the word _accident_ , the words ‘Riku’s got it covered’ did manage to calm her somewhat. “Is it-- Is Sora home? Does he--” She shook her head. “I should call Daichi.”

 

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea right now, considering how he’s been dealing with all this.” Hoshi let out another breath. “I don’t know all the details, but I will be calling my sons to get Riku home fast. Just--He is your son. He’s just... a bit different for now. Riku will be there soon. Do you want me to come over?”

 

Aiko looked to where Sora was finishing cleaning up the spilled tea, and had retrieved a broom to sweep up the broken shards. _Mama’s little helper..._ “No, I’ll be okay till Riku gets here.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

Aiko nodded, then smiled, remembering she was on the phone. “Yeah. I promise.”

 

“Okay. But I’ll be over for dinner anyway, no matter what happens. Okay?”

 

“Okay,” Aiko agreed, then hung up the phone.

 

“Are you okay, Mom?” Sora wondered, coming over to hover at her elbow. “Is something wrong with dad?”

 

“Huh?” Aiko turned to look at him. “Oh, no. Everything’s fine with your father. I just... I had a bit of a shock.” She then tried to grin. “Good job calling Hoshi.”

 

“Actually I was trying to call Riku to see what he would do,” Sora admitted, blushing a little. “Mama Hoshi just picked up the phone.”

 

Aiko couldn’t help but laugh. A family crisis and Sora would still call his best friend to ask what Riku would do. “Well, thank you anyway.”

 

Sora grinned, then looked around. “Oh man, I am hungry though. Where’s dinner? I thought you said it was ready?”

 

“Huh?” She did? “Oh... I, uh,.. Just meant that I was ready for you to help me with dinner!” She let out a grin. “How does soup sound?”

 

Sora nodded eagerly and was set to work chopping vegetables while Aiko measured the liquids and tried to calm her heartbeat.

 

Everything would be fine.

 

She could tell the moment that Hoshi must have gotten a hold of Riku as a flurry of texts came flying into her phone. Sora looked confused at the notification sounds, tilting her head when she pulled her cell from her pocket. “New work device?”

 

She blinked in confusion, then realized that she hadn’t gotten her cellphone till the year Sora had gone missing. He had been equally confused by it when he returned and they never got around to getting him his own. “Something like that.”

 

He was placated with that answer, and Aiko quickly scrolled through the messages. One was from Kairi, saying sorry for keeping this from her. The other six were from Riku.

 

_Is he okay?_

_I’m on my way._

_Just try to keep him calm?_

_Not that he should be panicking!_

_I’m so sorry we didn’t say anything. We weren’t sure if he would show up there._

_He might be confused when he sees me, but Rikuto’s busy in another world_

 

Aiko couldn’t help the huff of laughter that escaped. Riku was just as worried as she was. _Maybe even more so,_ she admitted to herself.

 

“Riku’s coming over, but he might be a while!” she added quickly when Sora nearly got up to race to the door. “So finish your job first.”

 

Sora sighed and nodded, going back to chopping celery.

 

Aiko nodded to herself and returned to her own job of shredding the left over chicken, adding it to the pot.

 

Sooner than she thought, or than she wished, there was a knock at the door. Sora made to get up, but Aiko beat him to it. “Keep chopping. I just have to-- I’ll be right back,” she promised then headed for the front door.

 

She would be lying to herself if her heart didn’t stop when she placed her hand on the doorknob. The last time she had opened the door to Riku...

 

She took a deep breath, and turned the knob, opening the door and quickly stepping outside to join Riku on the porch.

 

He looked even worse than the last time she had seen him up close. His hair had lost all of its shine, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days. “Riku, sweetie--” Instinctively, she reached up to feel his forehead for a temperature, but he gently shook his head.

 

“I’m fine. I just... haven’t been able to sleep recently.”

 

“Is this about...” She motioned inside where Sora waited.

 

“Yeah. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you. We didn’t even know how big of a project this was gonna be when we started. I--He turns up in the strangest of places and I should have known one would come here.”

 

“He...one--” Aiko frowned, “You mean Sora?”

 

Riku nodded, and then explained. “When Sora didn’t come back with Kairi  we thought he was just...lost in darkness or de-- “ He cut himself off and for that Aiko was grateful. “I never, _never_ believed that last though. And then, about a week ago, he came running out of the bushes at the play island, but it was Sora at four years old. About the same age when he and I were first able to visit the play island. Remember?”

 

She did. She nearly hadn’t let the boy go after the incident with the chocolate ice cream, but she had never been able to resist his puppy eyes for long. “Okay, and?”

 

“Of course we took him to Yen Sid--er--He’s a former keyblade master. When we got there, we met up with our other friends who had different versions of Sora. One older, another younger...” Riku shook his head. “It’s... complicated. But essentially, whatever Sora did to save Kairi shattered his heart. We’re putting the pieces back together again.”

 

Aiko felt her own heart break. Sora’s heart... shattered?

 

“So... the Sora in there...” She trailed off.

 

“Is a Sora from a moment in time. A fragment.” Riku let out a sigh. “Most have been able to interact with the worlds they landed in, but they tend to be a little fuzzy on details. And they haven't been appearing at the same time either. There was another Sora at Mom’s house a few days ago and--” He cut himself off again with a blush. “I’m sorry... I should have told you then.”

 

She remembered that day. Hoshi had been acting odd at dinner. Then Aiko waved her hand. “It’s in the past now, Riku. Don’t worry about it.” She thought she understood his reasoning. She supposed she wouldn’t have wanted false hope that her son was returned to her. Aiko then turned to look through the glass. As expected, Sora’s curious eyes quickly disappear out of view. “I’m going to have to say goodbye again. Aren’t I?”

 

“Just for a short while!” Riku reassured her. “I’ll bring him home as soon as I can.”

 

She sighed and nodded. “I know you will.” She then let out a small huff of laughter. “Riku, do you remember how you first met Sora?”

 

“Huh?” He rubbed at his hair, “I,uh-- Well, I was really little...”

 

“Yes, you were. Sora was even younger. Your Mom and I worked together, but we weren’t especially close yet.” She chuckled. “Sora had wandered off from home when Daichi and I weren’t looking. We searched for hours, and just before we were going to call the police, there was a knock at the door. When we opened it, you were there, holding Sora’s hand. And you said that you brought him home.”

 

Riku huffed out a small chuckle. “I guess it’s become a bit of a habit.”

 

She let out another laugh. “Sora was so proud of himself; Had no care about how worried he had made his parents. He was just so excited because he had gone to find a best friend. And he did.” She met his gaze, unsurprised to find the blush adorning his cheeks. “We still have no idea where you two met, or how you managed to help him the whole way home. But it did become a bit of a habit. There was a saying on the island when you guys were young: No matter how far Sora would wander, Riku would always bring him home again.”

 

Riku let out his own huff of laughter. “I will. I promise. He’s been doing the same for me for years. Showing me the way home...”

 

She grinned, then wrapped her arms around him, wondering when he had gotten so tall. “You’re going to bring him home this time Riku. I know you will.”

 

“Yeah...” Riku agreed, hugging her back. “I will.”

 

Finally, it appeared that Sora could contain his curiosity no longer and the front door opened. “Mom? Who are you talking to? Where’s Riku?”

 

“Uh, I-- um...” Aiko was at a bit of a loss. She felt Riku lay hand on her shoulder then bent down a little lower to Sora’s height.

 

“What’s wrong, banana breath? Don’t you recognize me?”

 

Sora’s eyes lit up, “Riku? What the heck? There’s no way you grew this much in a few hours!” He reached out to poke at Riku’s arms, and Aiko chuckled at the mixture of awe and jealousy that came over his face.

 

Riku laughed, “It’s been more than a few hours. There was... an accident. You kinda de-aged. And lost a few of your memories?”

 

“Nuh uh!” Sora protested.

 

“Oh yeah, what happened the last time we hung out?”

 

“W--uh...” Sora glanced up at Aiko then knelt forward to whisper in Riku’s ear, though he was always terrible at keeping secrets and Aiko heard anyway. “We were finishing up the raft.”

 

_Raft?_

 

It only took one guilty look from Riku for her to piece it together. A raft in the middle of the ocean? They would have been lucky to make it to the next island. She let out a long sigh.

 

Sometimes Riku could be just as reckless.

 

“Well, we did go on our adventure. Hence, why I look older. And you don’t.”

 

“Oh.” Sora looked thoughtful. “I bet I look cooler than you!”

 

“Not even close,” Riku smirked, chuckling when Sora protested louder, seeming unconcerned that there was an ‘accident.’

 

Aiko chuckled as well. “Can you stay for dinner? Your mom’s coming over.” She turned back to Riku. “I know you’ll want to get back as soon as you can, but--” she cut herself off when Riku shook his head.

 

“I’m sorry Mama Aiko, but I have to pick up a few more people on my way back to Radiant Garden. They’re expecting us.”

 

“Right,” Aiko let out a sigh. “And I’m guessing I can’t go--” She cut herself off when Riku looked reluctant to deny her, but also felt that he would have to for some convoluted reason or another. She let out another sigh, “Let me pack you up some food.”

 

“You don’t have to--” Riku protested.

 

“Please.”

 

Finally, Riku nodded and they followed her back inside, Sora following close to his friend.

 

Aiko took a deep breath to stop the tears from falling. Then she went into the cabinet to grab a few containers. “How many people are you picking up Riku?”

 

“Uh, three. Maybe four?”

 

She nodded and quickly divided up the soup that hadn’t quite started cooking yet, but the chicken in it was cooked and they should have a stove wherever there were going. She then grabbed several plastic bags, deftly tying the containers up as well as one of the loaves of bread Hoshi had brought over the other night. “I hope this will be enough. Just let it simmer on the stove for at least twenty minutes once you get where you're going, okay?”

 

“Okay!” Sora agreed, all previous thoughts of hunger gone.

 

Aiko grinned and passed it off to Riku, then opened her arms for Sora to enter. He ran into them, eager for a hug. “Please be safe.”

 

“I will, Mom!” Sora promised, hugging her tight. “I promise.”

 

She held him close for another minute, wishing she could have an hour. Maybe a week.

 

But Sora wasn’t meant to be her little boy any longer. He was now nearly a man.

 

She then turned to Riku. “I expect that the next time you return, it’ll be the same way you showed up the first time.” She then raised an eyebrow, pulling him into a hug and whispering. “Holding hands and all...”

 

She could feel it as Riku’s whole face reddened from where it was buried in her shoulder. “Mama Aiko...” he groaned and she chuckled.

 

“Just trust me on that. Sora and I had more than a few talks when he was home.” Mostly over his confusion about his feelings for both his best friends. She had offered all the advice she could as his mother, but in the end, it was up to him to figure it out. She couldn’t help but notice though, the few times that both Riku and Kairi were over, that Sora’s attention tended to drift more towards his oldest friend.

 

Riku looked skeptical but nodded, then turned to the younger version of his best friend. “Ready to go, short stuff?”

 

Sora frowned. “Don’t think I won’t remember that when I’m taller than you!”

 

Riku laughed, “That’ll be the day.”

 

They both waved at the door, then it closed again, and Aiko was left alone.

 

She let out a sigh, leaning against the worn wood of the door frame.

 

He would return to her. Riku would see to that.

 

But it was also nearly time for her to let go for good.

 

Despite the ache in her heart, she did let out a small smile. She knew Sora would always be in safe hands.

 

_\- Aqua, Ventus, Roxas, Xion ( & Vanitas), Agrabah - _

 

“It’s hot,” Ven complained.

“Trust me, it was worse in an organization cloak,” Roxas stated, rubbing the sand out of his hair. “They kept telling me that I shouldn’t feel anything, but now I realize that I was annoyed by the excessive heat in that black cloak.”

“Not to mention sweaty,” Xion complained as well. “It was gross.”

Ven chuckled, and even the creature on his shoulder twitched and scratched at the air as if in agreement.

Aqua caught herself in between wanting to smile and frown. She was glad that Ven had new friends, even if she found it strange how he and Roxas looked the same but didn’t really act alike. Xion reminded her more of Ven in a way, but looked a bit like Kairi. Aqua supposed she would have to fully read the journals that Jiminy added to her phone to understand, but she also wanted to get to know her new friends on her own first.

The creature on Ven’s shoulder twitched again at something Xion said, and Aqua’s attention returned to it. She was very concerned by the Unversed that Ven now carried everywhere. Her friend insisted that it wasn’t a threat, but she also heard him call the Flood, ‘Vanitas,’ which did nothing to assuage Aqua’s concerns.

Why would Ven want to keep such a creature around?

_Clink! Clink! Cli-Crash!_

“Huh?” Aqua turned to the pottery jars in the stall next to her that just fell over. Soon, another shifted across the shelf and crashed to the ground as well.

“Aqua! The ground!” Ven warned.

Once Ven had said it, she then felt the rumble in the ground sending vibrations out across the street.

There was a loud trumpeting sound then Aqua saw a large animal barreling towards her, scared and confused and not caring at all what or who was in its way. Quickly she grabbed Roxas and Xion, dragging them out of the way and into an alley with several other merchants. She watched as Ven leaped into the air and grabbed a window ledge just before the creatures stampeded by, impeding her view of her friend.

Xion had clutched her hands over her ears and leaned heavily into Roxas, who also looked unwell by the loud ruckus. Finally, the rumbling faded, the crash of the destroyed merchant stalls and wares quieting. Aqua cautiously ventured out into the streets.

“Hey! Put that back!”

She heard Ven’s words but struggled to locate him. He wasn’t where he had grabbed onto the ledge.  

“Stealing is wrong!”

“Stay out of it boy!”

Aqua felt her heartbeat quicken in anger when Ven let out a pained yell before falling silent. Then the other man spoke up again. “Take what you can from the city on your way out! Always make use of an opportunity boys!”

Several cheers followed this statement, and Aqua was able to locate them by the sound, Roxas and Xion at her heels.

They found themselves face to face with several men holding sparkling trinkets and bags, others pulling the few non shattered pottery and rugs from the nearby stalls. To the side, Aqua could make out Ven’s form, lying prone in the shade of another alleyway. “Ven!”

The men all turned towards her, most drawing blades. Several heartless began to appear as well, drawn to the malice of these men.

There was a flash of light, and Roxas appeared next to her, summoning both of his keyblades while Xion summoned her own.

“Go check on Ven!” Xion called out, “Roxas and I can take ‘em.”

She nodded in thanks, summoning her own keyblade to viciously blast away any who even tried to get in her way as she ran to Ven.

“Ventus! Wake up!” She shook him, but the blow to the head must have knocked him out hard. “Heal!” She hoped it would at least stave off a concussion, though the boy still didn’t wake.

Beside Ven, the Flood twitched and jumped around the boy’s head, obviously extremely agitated that the blonde had fallen.  

“Even the best of us can be caught off guard, Vanitas.” She muttered in agitation herself. Great, now she was addressing the creature.  

She smelled a foul odor, and she turned quickly, firing off a blizzard without thinking and sending one of the men flying into two more that had tried to sneak up on her.

“Well, well... Did the genie invite a witch to join the party?”

A man emerged from the shadows, flanked by heartless and wielding some kind of blade that fit neatly between his fingers. By the voice, she identified him as the man that must have hit Ventus.

Aqua gritted her teeth and took a battle stance over her fallen friend. “He’s right you know, stealing is wrong.”

“Well, it’s also my profession, so I’ll just take that magic wand of yours as well on my way out.”

She smirked. “You can try.” She fired off another blizzard, but the man dodged, quick despite his size. She dodged his first two swipes at her face, and then summoned a barrier that caused his third strike to bounce back. The barrier exploded in his face and he flinched. She quickly dove in to strike three times before one of his heartless lackeys also came in to attack.

She managed to dodge out of the way, trying to think of a strategy. She would have to lead the fight away from Ventus if she wanted to save her friend from further damage. She dodged backwards once, hoping the man would follow.

He took the bait! She grinned and let him try to attack her, guarding the attacks this time. The next barrier she formed, he got smart and didn’t attack, letting the heartless do so instead until the barrier exploded. She jumped out of it this time and attacked his unprepared face again, sending him stumbling back into his more human comrades.

He let out a deep growl. “Don’t just stand there and watch her dance you fools! Take her and the others down. We don’t have time to waste with this nonsense.”

Suddenly Aqua had six or seven men rushing at her, as well as several hoards of heartless. She fired another blizzard at the heartless to keep them frozen, then blasted a few of the men away with an aero spell. But more kept coming.

Another blizzard at a wave of heartless drained her magic. She would have to rely on physical attacks until it recharged. She blocked a sword that came flying out of nowhere, then punched a man in the face when he tried to grab at her. She was never above using hand to hand combat when needed. Though these men didn’t go down as easy as the dummies she used to practice on.

Several slipped passed her to the gate, eager to just run away. Others were still engaged with Roxas and Xion in combat, the younger wielders able to hold many of them back, but was also clearly losing stamina.

She felt a chill run up her back, indicating something was rushing her and she turned, finding the man with the claws in his fist charging at her. She flinched and tried to raise a barrier but the strong heal she had cast on Ventus and the number of blizzard spells meant her mana was slow to recharge and the barrier wasn’t nearly as good as it should have been. She tried to switch to a guard instead at the last second.

Suddenly, the man was launched forward, sailing over her head and into another merchant stall. As he passed over, she felt the cool breeze of a blizzaga spell. She gasped, turning to thank Roxas, but finding him completely focused on the smaller thief who had locked both of his blades in a standoff. Xion was similarly distracted, fending off three of the thieves, as well as a few heartless. Frowning, Aqua turned back to the crowd. Did Sora...?

But there was no familiar head of spiky brown hair.

It wasn’t until she glanced over to where Ven was resting did she see him.

Standing over Ven was a young man with spiky black hair and fierce golden eyes. She almost mistook him for Sora at first...but that outfit...

_Vanitas?_

But that should be impossible. Vanitas was a _monster_ , how did he have Sora’s face?

And...why did he save her?

For it could have only been Vanitas who fired the spell. There was no one else around able to do so.

As she watched, still a little confused, Vanitas used another blizzard to blast several heartless away from Ven. She approached cautiously, keeping her eyes trained on the boy she had once fought.

She had thought his faded look was a trick of the light, but as she got closer, she realized that Vanitas was nearly transparent, his keyblade the only thing solid about him.

“Men! Stop fighting with the riff raff and move out!” A new voice rang through the air.

Aqua turned back to the battle. Nearly all of the thieves were now fleeing through the open gates, following a man in blue who grabbed a nearby horse and swung up on its back, leading the retreat. The heartless either followed or vanished.

“Wait!” Yet another voice called out, though this one she recognized.

Sure enough, the boy with spiky brown hair came sprinting up the street, keyblade in hand and in the clothes they had last seen him in on the battlefield. When the boy got close enough, he swung his keyblade out, a beam of light shooting towards the open gates. A barrier appeared, as well as a keyhole that Sora’s keyblade seemed to lock.

The man in blue didn’t even stop. He instead stood up on his horse’s back, jumping to the walls and climbing them, his remaining men following behind. Soon they were up and over, escaping into the desert.

“Oh, c’mon!” Sora shouted, evidently frustrated.

“Sora?” Roxas walked up to the brunet. “Uh... what just happened?”

“Huh?” the brunet’s head shot up, “Roxas?” He then turned to the dark haired girl walking up to them as well, “Xion?”

“Yeah.” Roxas rubbed the back of his head, “So you recognize us?”

“Uh... yeah?” Sora looked confused, but then a spark of recognition lit up in his eyes. “Ohh... so that’s--” He cut himself off. “I mean... of course I recognize you. I did see you during the mark of mastery exam, remember? And Xion, umm--”

“Oh, give it up, Sora...” Ven groaned, and Aqua quickly turned towards him. The blonde was trying to stand up, leaning heavily against the wall. Vanitas was nowhere to be seen but the unversed creature was now scratching at Ven’s legs, though the blonde didn’t flinch so it must not have been causing pain. “You’re not as good as pretending as you think.”

“Hehe...” Sora laughed nervously. “What do you mean?”

“At least a few of the scattered parts of you are from the future or are possibilities or whatever.” Ven groaned again, clutching his head. Aqua ran over with a potion that the blonde gratefully took. “You don’t need to pretend.”

“Hmm...” Sora hummed, trying to not look any of them in the eye then silently raised a finger to his lips. “Some of us are just kinda wishful thinking, too.”

Aqua blinked, tilting her head. “Wait, so... you’re from the future?”

“No, not really.” Sora shrugged and kicked his heel on the dusty street. “It’s kinda... complicated? My heart is made up of a lot of things, some of it possibilities and wishful thinking and... yeah, some of it may be made up of parts that haven’t happened yet. I think it was scattered across time, too.”

“That’s why we’ve been finding both young and older versions of you...” Roxas realized. “And why you’ve been appearing at different times in the same world.”

Sora shrugged, “I don’t really understand how all this is happening.”

“Now that, I can believe,” Ven stated, laughing when Sora pouted. He then seemed to notice the Flood still pawing at his pants leg. “Well, climb up if you want to be carried.”

The unversed scratched and jumped, but made no move to actually climb. Finally, Ven let out a sigh and knelt down picking the creature up and situating it on his shoulder. “You are so lazy,” the blonde huffed as the creature clawed at Ven’s clothes.

“You just spoil him,” Roxas argued, coming up as well to poke at the flood who opened one eye to glare at the second blonde. “He’s not gonna want to become human again if he gets treated like a pampered pet.”

The unversed seemed to bristle at the sound of being called a pet and he suddenly launched himself at Roxas.

Aqua summoned her keyblade, ready to destroy the flood if needed, but Roxas just caught the creature easily and held it out at arms length.

“No. If you want to argue with me, you have to use your words.”

“You can’t hide behind a Flood forever, Van,” Xion added with a smile.

The flood glared for a long moment, and then a voice seemed to resonate through the darkened alleyway.

_“Fuck you.”_

Roxas blinked and then began laughing, followed quickly by Xion, Ven and Sora. The unversed continued to glare for a moment before starting to wiggle, finally stretching out enough that it landed back on Ven’s shoulder. Then it turned away from all of them.

To Aqua, it looked like it was sulking. A giggle escaped her before she realized that she was even amused and she quickly tried to hide it.

Ven caught it though and he sent her a gentle smile. “He’s not the same. I think he really wants this second chance.”

“I hope he’ll take it.” Sora clapped Ven on the shoulder, and poked at the unversed. “I think he’d make a good addition!”

“Yeah!” Roxas agreed, “Not many have a foul mouth that rivals Xion’s.”

“Hey!” Xion protested, but laughed and petted the creature gently, her grin growing when Vanitas seemed to lean in to the touch. “But it would be nice to have the ‘Sora’s heart hotel’ gang back together again!”

“Is that what we’re calling ourselves?” Sora questioned, “I knew I should have been charging rent!”

Aqua felt very, _very_ confused and more than a little left out. She shook her head to try and clear it, instead focusing on the mission at hand. “Anyway, Sora, if you know what’s going on, why didn’t you just come to Radiant Garden?”

“Uh, well...” He grinned sheepishly and scratched at his chin. “For one thing, I didn’t exactly realize that I was just a fragment until Roxas asked if I recognized him. That’s when I kinda figured it out. For another, I kinda got invited to a wedding.”

“A wedding?” Roxas asked.

“It would have been rude to say no!” Sora protested, though to Aqua it appeared that Roxas was more asking what a wedding _was_.

She made a note to give the boy more books. And perhaps a lesson in some more common social conventions.

“Well--” Aqua was cut off from what she was going to say when a man with dark hair dressed in white came running up.

“Sora! Did you--”

Sora was already shaking his head before the man could finish his sentence. “No, I’m sorry Aladdin. And he ruined your big day!”

The man let out a sigh. “It’s not your fault. We weren’t exactly prepared for a robbery. And they were after something in particular....”

“What?”

“Don’t know exactly. Some kind of staff. Genie is doing some research on it, but for now the wedding has been postponed.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Sora looked truly crushed.

“It’s... well...” Aladdin shrugged. “Genie will have the palace fixed up in no time. And hey!” He turned to Sora, “Maybe this time we can get your invite actually delivered. Genie was so bummed he couldn’t find you when we sent them out last time.”

“Oh yeah.” Sora chuckled, “We’ve been traveling a lot. But if you can’t find me, tell Genie to deliver it to Riku, okay?”

Aladdin nodded, “Got it!” He then seemed to notice Sora’s entourage for the first time. “Oh, and you can bring all your other friends too. Trust me, Genie will make room if he has to!”

Sora chuckled and nodded. “Great! We look forward to it!”

Aladdin nodded again in thanks, and then began running back the way he came. “I’m sure Jasmine will want to know that I’m alright. See you soon, Sora!”

“See you!” Sora shouted, then turned back to the rest. “I guess we’re all invited to a royal wedding!”

“Wait.” Ven fronwed, “Royal wedding-- so that was a prince?”

Sora tilted his head. “No, that was Aladdin. Jasmine is the princess.”

“Oh.” Ven nodded like that made perfect sense.

It didn’t really, but as long as they didn’t have any other pressing matters here... “Sora, you ready to go?” Aqua asked. She mostly wanted to get back soon before Riku left again. She overheard him telling the King that he wanted to check out the keyblade graveyard.

She didn’t want him to face that place again by himself.

“Um, sure but--” Suddenly, Sora began to glow. “I think I already got my ride...” He then let out a bright grin nearly brighter than his own light. “I’ll see you guys soon!” With that, he disappeared.

“What?” Roxas questioned, “What just--”

There was a sudden ding on his gummiphone, and Data-Sora’s voice called out: “One Sora has just returned! Total is now 271.”

“What?!” Roxas pulled the gummiphone out. “Sora, what was the total the last time?”

“Um....” There was a long pause. “113!”

“It’s more than doubled...” Aqua remarked. “How...” That couldn’t have been just the others finding a hundred and something Soras somewhere else.

“The magnet effect!” Ven remembered. “What Demyx said! It’s working!”

Aqua let out a sigh of relief. “He’s going home then.” With a majority of his heart in one place, Sora’s other selves must be starting to get drawn in. They might just need to find a few more to really get the process going but then...

Soon, their quest would be over.

 

_\- Riku, Aqua, & Mickey, Keyblade Graveyard -  _

 

Riku barely looked where he was running, not paying attention at all to the desert around him. _Where?_ He could hear it in his heart. Feel it. Sora was in so much pain. _Where?_

 

“Are you sure there’s one here?” Aqua questioned, not for the first time. Out of the corner of his eye, Riku saw her share a glance with Mickey. Both of them were clearly worried.

 

“Are you okay, Riku?” Mickey asked when he didn’t answer Aqua’s question.

 

Riku nodded once, continuing to race through the empty battlefield.  

 

He was fine. Just fine.

 

And as soon as they found the Sora here, he’d be even more fine.

 

He scanned their surroundings, finding a familiar cliff face with an even more familiar crevice running through it. There maybe?

 

He sprinted towards it, barely hearing as Mickey and Aqua followed him. The pang in his heart grew stronger. _Sora! I’m coming!_

 

The others mentioned that more and more Soras had begun to gravitate towards the prime Sora, the number of returned growing so rapidly that Data-Sora had lost count somewhere around the 500 mark. The one he had picked up from Aiko’s house had vanished almost as soon as they got to the gummiship, joining hundreds of others.

 

But Riku could still feel them calling out, and this one in particular was loud and insistent.

 

He had to find Sora.

 

He sprinted through the crevice, his eyes on the light ahead and the broken keyblades lying forgotten. Why would Sora ever turn up in this place?

 

“Riku! Look out!”

 

He had just heard Aqua’s cry, summoning his keyblade and guarding on instinct. A shockwave reverberated through his barrier, and he turned towards the source, keyblade raised to attack.

 

He stopped millimeters before his blade made contact, his barrier dropping out of shock.

 

The Kingdom Key withdrew as its wielder backed away.

 

But it wasn’t a Sora that Riku recognized.

 

The boy was covered in darkness, his eyes turned red rather than the clear blue Riku loved. His features were practically indistinct, his clothing seeped in the same inky blackness, only highlighted by a bright white pattern. It reminded Riku uncomfortably of the Anti-Sora that Roxas and Ven had brought back from Neverland, except--

 

This form was way stronger.

 

“Sora?” Riku called out, then had to quickly guard again as the boy sprinted in for a quick attack. “Sora! Stop it! It’s me!”

 

The boy remained silent, though the cry in Riku’s heart just got louder.

 

“We came to find you!” Riku tried, pushing Sora back, only for the boy to rush in again with quick, strong, wild attacks that the older boy barely managed to dodge. But they were also risky, Sora leaving himself wide open for retaliation of Riku chose to.

 

“Freeze!”

 

“No!” Riku called out, but Aqua’s attack had already taken affect, freezing Sora in place. “That’s not gonna--”

 

Sora burst out of the spell like it was made of snow rather than ice, and rushed at Aqua instead. Mickey cast a stop spell but Sora practically ignored it, going after both of them.

 

Now that Riku had a moment to just observe, he realized what this was. This was Sora fighting out of anger. Not caring about healing himself, or focusing to pull off a shotlock. Sora was fighting blinded by rage. There had been moments, when they were younger and dumber, when Riku would tease Sora a little too much, say something that would hit a nerve, and suddenly Sora would throw his toy sword away and declare he was done playing. Riku would feel terrible afterwards while Sora ran off to Kairi.

 

He had asked the boy about it once. Why the brunet threw the sword down rather than attack.

 

_“I wouldn’t want to hurt you out of anger,” Sora had said, discreetly wiping his tears from under his eyes. “It’s no fun if you get hurt.”_

 

But a battle-hardened Sora wouldn’t be able to put his blade down. He’d have to keep fighting, even when pissed off. Riku couldn't say why Sora might be angry with them -- perhaps because they were moving just too damn slow putting him back together. Or maybe because they had let the brunet get to this point in the first place.

 

Riku gripped his sword tighter. There was only one way to end this. “Sora!” He had to get the other boy’s focus again.He dodged in between Aqua’s next attack, guarding against the Kingdom Key. “Let me handle this!” He called back to Mickey and Aqua.

 

Sora hadn’t even flinched at the sound of his name, but his focus remained on Riku while the others retreated, ready to step in again if necessary.

 

“I know you’re pissed off,” Riku began pushing the boy away and readying for the next attack that quickly came. Their blades clashed again. “But you have to calm down.”

 

“...gone...”

 

What? Had Sora spoken? The voice was raspy and weak, as if Sora had been yelling for hours. Or screaming.

 

Was it because he could feel that part of his shattered heart was missing?

 

“I’m sorry!” RIku cried out, guarding against Sora again. He didn’t want to risk a barrier, in case the shockwave damaged the brunet. “I’m sorry I’m so slow, I’m sorry I can’t save all of you. I’m trying, Sora. I can hear your heart crying out, and I’m sorry I can’t be faster.”

 

“...gone.... All gone...”

 

Riku had to dodge the next blow, too quick to even guard effectively. “What do you mean? What’s gone?”

 

“...friends....” the boy’s voice choked off. “Gone... Dead...” The boy suddenly rushed again, faster and quicker, the blow nearly making contact this time. “You left me.”

 

A feeling flashed through Riku. It wasn’t quite a memory. But...a _what if?_ He suddenly had a feeling that something had happened on the battlefield. Something he couldn’t remember, but he felt deeply. With what Sora said-- “I didn’t leave you, you idiot! I was protecting you!” The only way that Riku would have fallen is if he had been protecting Sora till the very end.

 

He knew that in his heart.

 

“Left me...” the boy repeated, swinging his blade again. “Chase you, find you!” The clangs from their crossed blades rang out across the empty battlefield. “Gone!”

 

“Dammit! I’m not gonna say I’m sorry for protecting you!” Riku called out. “Just focus for a second.”

 

“Gone!” Sora cried out again, and this time there was no mistaking the painful break in his voice as anything other than a sob.

 

Riku gritted his teeth, then rushed at Sora this time, his blade raised.

 

Sora let out a growl, ready to attack in return.

 

At the last second, Riku threw Braveheart to the dusty ground with a clatter, and instead dodged under Sora’s over extended swing. He wrapped his arms around the brunet, the momentum throwing them both to the ground.

 

“Riku!” Mickey called out, but the silver haired boy ignored him, focusing on the racing heartbeat beneath him.

 

“Riku?” a raspy voice questioned, arms blindly wrapping around his shoulders. “You’re--” The voice cut off into a sob and Riku pulled away just enough to look.

 

The colors were leaching back into Sora’s skin and clothes, the pitch black hair turning back to the chestnut Riku loved, and his glowing eyes fading to violet, then blue. Now the only color of red in Sora’s face was the redness around blue eyes as tears streamed from them. Sora’s breath hitched in sobs and cries.

 

“You left me,” Sora muttered. “I needed you most and--” He choked off another sob. “I needed you.”

 

“I needed to protect you,” Riku muttered back.  “But I’m here now, Sora.” Riku gently wiped the tears away. “And I’m sorry it took so long.”

 

“Everyone’s--” Sora choked on the last word and Riku pulled the boy into a sitting position so he could better wrap his arms around the brunet. The sobs that left the smaller boy broke Riku’s heart. It was as if every last hope had left the brunet, leaving the broken warrior that Riku would do anything to save.

 

“I couldn’t save them,” Sora choked out, his face buried in Riku’s shirt. “I couldn’t save you.” His fingers clutched weakly onto Riku’s clothes and the silver haired boy tightened his arms, pouring every bit of comfort he could into the embrace. “Even with all my heart, I couldn’t--” He cut himself off again, pulling himself closer to Riku till he was practically in the taller boy’s lap.

 

Riku didn’t mind.

 

“Shh...” His stroked his hand down Sora’s back, feeling something that he could almost remember. Everyone gone, Sora crying. _You don’t believe that. I know you don’t_. Riku shook his head, dismissing those half memories. “Shh... Everyone’s fine. They’re just fine, Sora. See, Aqua and Mickey are right over there. You saved them. You did it!”

 

“How can I?” Sora muttered, not even turning to look at the others, as if he couldn’t even see them. “Without--” He choked on a breath.

 

The words broke Riku’s heart all over again. For Sora to think--

 

“You are so strong, Sora, even on your own.” Riku pulled him closer, running a hand down his back and through brunet hair. “So strong. You’re even stronger than me.”

 

“N--Nu uh.” Sora shook his head, “You’re the strong one.”

 

“Only because you believe in me,” Riku admitted.

 

In shock, Sora pulled away, running a hand under his eye. “Huh?” He looked up into Riku’s eyes, more confused than anything. “What do you mean?

 

Riku felt his heart skip several beats. _I mean that without you my whole world is gone. I mean that your belief in me is what pulled me out of the dark every time and without it I feel like I might be drowning. I mean that just because I can stand on my own doesn’t mean I want to._

 

_I mean that I love you with all my heart, Sora._

 

But no. He couldn’t say those words now. Not till Sora was whole.

 

Instead, he leaned in and pressed his lips gently to the fringe covering Sora’s forehead. “You give me my strength Sora. I couldn’t ever have found the power I truly wanted, if I didn’t have you believing in me.” He ran a thumb under sky blue eyes, wiping away the last of the tears. “And I believe in you too.”

 

Sora took a shaky breath, then another as his eyes widened in realization. “Riku, you...” He shook his head, breaking their gaze. “You...” He trailed off again.

 

For a moment, Riku worried that he had said the wrong thing, but the thought was cut off when Sora practically tackled him to the ground, hugging him so tightly, the silver haired boy struggled to breathe.

 

“You-- I-- you give me strength too. I’m sorry that I didn’t-- Please, I can’t--” his grip on Riku tightened. “I can’t lose you again...”

 

“You never will,” Riku reassured him, feeling a few tears leak out of his own eyes. “Even in the deepest darkness, I’ll always find my way back to you.”

 

“Always,” Sora promised. He somehow burrowed even closer to the silver haired boy, burying his face back into Riku’s shirt.

 

Riku nodded in agreement and squeezed him back, closing his eyes tightly against brunet hair, before relaxing and just taking in Sora’s everything. His scent, the weight of him, the feel of the soft hair between Riku’s fingers as he carded a hand through it. He never wanted to forget how this felt. Not one moment of it.

 

Unfortunately, the outside world had other plans. Slowly a bright glow began to register behind Riku’s closed eyes and he blinked them open, finding Sora glowing with the same bright light that occurred when the three toddlers merged into one Sora. Then the weight on his body became lighter as Sora disappeared, pulled away by some distant force.

 

“What just--” Riku panicked. What had happened? _Sora was right here, don’t tell me that--_

 

“Riku!”

 

He heard Mickey calling his name through the sound of his racing heartbeat and Riku struggled to breathe. Another presence was instantly by his side, pulling him into a warm embrace, that, while not quite familiar, was just as comforting.

 

“It’s okay, Riku...” A soft voice whispered, one Riku identified as Aqua. “He’s going home. He just went back to where he belonged.”

 

Riku was finally able to draw a shaky breath. “He... He did?”

 

“Yeah!” Mickey reassured him. “You already mentioned this happening once or twice, remember?”

 

Shakily, Riku nodded. He _had_ mentioned it. The one on the pirate world had done so. And Roxas and Ven mentioned another somewhere else. It seemed like Demyx’s idea was working: the higher the concentration of Soras, the faster they were drawing together.

 

This one had just felt so real though. So close the the whole that Riku hadn’t been ready to say goodbye.

 

“Right...” Riku nodded, then blushed in embarrassment and tried to discreetly wipe under his eyes. “Right... We should go check in with Ienzo and the others. See how the process is coming along. ....”

 

“Sound’s good,” Aqua agreed.

 

Together they left the deserted battlefield behind for the last time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note about Kairi's section in Corona: I had to rewrite her section the most, because I love delving into her character (because the games...try) but at the same time, I didn't want to get too into it. I hope that she doesn't come across as too... I dunno the word I'm looking for but, I didn't want it to seem like she was "stepping out of the way for Sora and Riku to be together," because she's really not. She has just grown out of her "crush" on Sora, and though the feelings of love are still there, they don't necessarily have to be romantic. She just wants her best friends back and happy. I also wrote about her wanting to discover who she was/what her destiny might have been if Radiant Garden never fell. That's a huge part of her life that has been swept under the metaphorical rug for way to long. Why is she so special that she never lost her princess of heart status? I'm excited for her specialness, just tell me why! Was it because of what Sora did? Is it because of some other reason yet to be disclosed? 
> 
> ...but I digress. I just have a lot of Kairi feelings. 
> 
> Also, Terra is in that section 100% because I wanted him to awkwardly dance with Sora. I don't know why I had this mighty need, but I hope others enjoyed it. 
> 
> Note about Destiny Islands: According to research, Aiko means "love child," and Daichi means "Great land" or "great wisdom" depending on the kanji. I would say that I was going somewhere with that, but I mostly just liked the names. :D I hope Sora makes it home for dinner at some point ;) 
> 
> Next chapter definitely shouldn't take so long as there aren't as many rewrites planned. :D
> 
> EDIT 5/2019: Okay, so the pirate section was somewhat inspired by this picture of Riku that I saw back in December: https://nijuukoo.tumblr.com/post/180731153302/self-indulgent-potc-riku-8ddd When I had tried to look for it to link to here, I couldn't find it and half thought I dreamed it. Luckily someone on discord pointed it out to me again and now I can link it! :D


	5. Gathered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg, I would like to THANK everyone who has read, commented/ left Kudos on this fic. The response to this really silly idea I had late at night has been amazing and I hope that the ending is as satisfying as you hoped it would be.

Drift... Sleep...wake... float... sink

 

Real.... Or not?

 

A light?

 

Warm...safe.

 

Love.

 

_Home._

 

\--

 

A person... _he_ ... was a _person_.

 

He was _real._

 

A spark.

 

A connection.

 

Focus! More connections!  

 

Growing. Shifting. Fusing.

 

Soon there was a small island of light he could stand on.

 

_(He could stand?)_

 

But it was just a small piece of something he knew should be bigger.

 

Shattered. Then scattered.

 

He could feel them. The scraps and moments and bits and wishes of who he was. Shattered.

 

_He_ was scattered.

 

The thoughts of others had brought back this much. This tiny island.

 

He wanted to return to them, the people who held onto him.

 

He would need help...

 

He had to find the connection.... The strong one.

 

He willed it. The scraps and moments and wishes still connected to him by the thinnest of threads. Follow the connection. Find the light...

 

Warm, strong, brave. Salt air and kindness and gentleness and fierceness. Safe...

 

Lost. Found. Almost lost again... So brave and reckless and bright... A light to lead him home again.

 

_Riku! Where are you?!_

 

Yes. That was it.

 

_Find Riku..._ He willed to the scattered remnants. _Find all of them._ All the connections that had kept him from shattering beyond hope.

 

The light would bring him home again.

 

\--

 

His island of light was growing bigger.

 

But there were other islands now. Within this empty space he knew was important but he couldn’t remember why. The pieces were important.

 

Some islands he could move too, the pieces returning memories and moments. Others were still just beyond his reach.

 

But more and more were coming in every day.

 

_You’re going to be okay, Sora..._

 

The voice again! Warm and safe. Calling him a name. _Sora_... that was his name.

 

He was Sora.

 

_Found another Sora. You always end up in the strangest places..._

 

Well, that wasn’t his fault now, was it? It clearly just meant he went on some fun adventures!

 

Piece by piece, the islands grew bigger, his sense of self growing stronger. Memories taking form. His home, his islands, his parents.

 

His friends.

 

Kairi. Sweet and stubborn and full of hope and belief. He was sure she had helped save him from a similar fate once. It would be more difficult this time, he knew. But he could feel her faith in him, and it was enough...

 

Donald, Goofy... the two half pints who helped him become a whole pint. He missed them so much.

 

Riku...

 

              _I’m sorry I’m not fast enough, Sora... But I’m working on it. All the pieces of you. I’ll find them..._

 

Riku.

 

The bits and pieces of Sora’s scattered heart ached for Riku most of all.

 

\---

 

He was more aware now, alone on his personal archipelago of moments and dreams and wishes. Each island was growing bigger by the second as pieces shifted and connected and grew. Moments become memories became life experiences. Dreams became wishes became hopes.

 

Through it all, the constant reminder of Riku’s voice.

 

_You’ll be whole Sora...I swear it._

 

_Not at the cost you seem willing to pay,_ Sora wanted to shout back. But he was never heard.

 

Other voices came in as well.

 

Some he could remember: Kairi’s sweet laugh, Donald and Goofy’s teasing about his sleeping habits.

 

Another voice was so familiar, though the name for it didn’t come until one set of memories had completely filled in. A spot he hadn’t realized was blocked off before. Namine.

 

            _I’m sorry I’m not as much help this time around, Sora._

 

He grinned. No locking away those memories this time. He could stand them now.

 

Other bouts of laughter came through, promises of sea salt ice cream on a tower, or an upcoming struggle tournament they hoped he’d be awake for.

 

Xion and Roxas. Two that had grown too big for his heart. Their memories and feelings were theirs. He wouldn’t want them back. Didn’t need them back. They were their own people now, not just another layer of his heart.

 

            _I know it can be a bit lonely asleep. But I hope you’re having some good dreams._

 

Ven... Another layer of his heart he had never realized he carried. He was grateful that they had managed to release him before all this happened.

 

_So, the whole circus is joining in on this scavenger hunt?_

 

_Hey, I figured you’d need him awake for this sequel. They just needed a bit of a push._

 

_Oh so now you’re playing the mastermind behind all this? As if!_

 

Sora frowned. He didn’t know who those voices were. Though they sounded familiar...

 

They needed Sora awake?

 

The brunet didn’t care. If it meant going back to his friends, to Riku?

 

Then he’d face whatever fate wanted to throw at him next.

 

\---

 

What had seemed like a trickle at first soon became a downpour.

 

Millions of fragments and moments and pieces came raining down, filling up the holes to capacity, nearly overflowing. But every piece had its place.

 

The platform was now radiating light, a strong pulsing glow that projected warmth and love. Not just his own, but from all the people who made this possible. All of the connections who went and found his pieces again.

 

Sora grinned, finding the one spot that wasn’t quite filled in yet. A heart shaped hole, waiting for that one last piece.

 

_Okay, Riku. It’s up to you now._

 

\--

 

There was an argument going on outside. One that Sora wished he could participate in, but found himself still trapped inside his own heart.

 

_“What do you mean the pieces have all been gathered?”_ Riku was shouting _. “He’s still not--”_

 

_“I can only sense that all the pieces are here...”_ Was that Master Yen Sid? _“Not that they have all been restored.”_

 

There was more shouting, more arguing and then--

 

_“It’s you, Riku.”_

 

A beat of silence followed Kairi’s quiet declaration.

 

_“What?”_

 

_“I already gave my piece back. The piece of Sora I’ve carried in my heart since he vanished. Now it’s your turn.”_

 

Sora could just picture it. Riku shaking his head, denying that he would ever try to hold a piece of Sora hostage.

 

But it wasn’t like that at all. Sora gave him that piece. Wanted to him to have it. He just needed to borrow it for a moment. Riku could have his whole heart if he wanted it after that.

 

_“Riku,”_ Master Yen Sid’s voice cut through the confusion. _“Perhaps a dive into Sora’s heart may solve this mystery. You’ve done it once before when Sora was asleep. If a majority of the pieces have been assembled, it’s likely he will be there as well. Waiting.”_

 

_Yes, I’m here!_ Sora wanted to shout.

 

_Riku, come find me!_

 

He didn’t have to wait long.

 

There was a bright blinding flash and the next time Sora looked up, it was to see Riku diving down towards him, arms outstretched to minimize the fall. Once he spotted Sora though, he brought his arms in to dive faster.

 

Thick soled boots landed heavily on the platform, and then teal eyes turned to glare at Sora. The brunet’s grin faltered a bit.

 

“Um, hi?”

 

“You’re here.”

 

“Yes?” Sora tilted his head.

 

“Then why aren’t you waking up?” The glare faded as Riku ran a hand through his hair, bringing Sora’s attention to the fact that it wasn’t nearly as shiny as it should have been. And Riku’s eyes-- the glare had only marginally hid the bags under them, the redness of holding back tears.

 

Sora reached out, but the older boy quickly turned away. “Riku--”

 

“I don’t understand. You’re all here! You’re complete!” Riku muttered, mostly to himself as the hand in his hair gripped tight. “I don’t-- I--” Words escaped Riku completely as the tears he had been hiding began to fall.

 

The bruent frowned, catching the tears as they started to run down the pale face. “Riku. I’m okay. I’m all here.” He wrapped his arm around the other boy’s shoulders and suddenly found himself drawn into a tight hug as Riku’s hands gripped his clothes. Sora rested his head on Riku’s chest, feeling the steady thump of his heartbeat.

 

Warm, safe, loved.

 

Home.

 

“Then why aren't you awake?” Riku whispered.

 

“Because, I’m all here. But I’m not quite complete yet?” Sora pointed at the missing piece, the heart shaped hole in the platform.

 

Riku took a shaky breath and glared at the void. “Where is it? Do you know? Can you feel it? I’ll go out and grab it really quick, just let me--”

 

Sora held onto him before Riku could pull away completely. “I told you, weren’t you listening? I’m all here. The piece I need is right here.” he pointed at Riku’s chest, right over his heart.

 

Riku blushed. “I would never--”

 

“You didn’t take it,” Sora reassured him. “I gave it to you. I just need to borrow it for a moment.”

 

Riku hesitated, then Sora watched as something seemed to resolve within him. “Whatever you need,” the older boy whispered, “I give it to you freely.”

 

A glow began to emanate from Riku’s chest, then the piece of Sora burst out and settled right where it fit.

 

Sora grinned, taking a step towards the middle. Where he put his foot down, the light began to shift and change, revealing a beautiful stained glass picture beneath.

 

Riku let out a gasp as it was completely revealed. “It’s changed...”

 

Sora looked at the picture. It was similar to how it had been before, himself sleeping down one side, holding a keyblade. To the left of his face were smaller pictures, all the people close to his heart. There were more than just Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy now. Ven, Aqua, and Terra took up a few more circles, while Xion, Lea, Roxas, and Namine took up more. Mickey was there as well, just above Donald and Goofy. Faded in the background, but no less important, were other faces as well, the people who searched and worked so hard to bring Sora back. They were all a part of his heart now, holding it together until he had enough of himself to be whole.

 

The keyblade the stained glass Sora was holding had changed as well. Gripped tightly in his hand was his half of the Mirage Split/ Nightmare’s End combined keyblade.

 

Sora wondered if Riku held the other half in his own heart.

 

“Well, I’ve changed,” he whispered instead, then turned to Riku. “Is that okay?”

 

Riku let out a small huff and a half smile, reaching out to hug Sora close again.

 

It was all the answer that Sora needed.

 

“I think I’m ready to wake up now,” Sora said, his voice muffled by Riku’s shirt.

 

“Don’t I need to unlock your heart or something?” Riku summoned Braveheart just in case.

 

Sora shook his head, “Nah, no need to take the scenic route home. Just take my hand.”

 

Riku did so, the light radiating from their joined hands. They faded away from the stained glass platform that was Sora’s heart, ready to face the outside world again.

 

\---

 

The world was bright when Sora first blinked his eyes open, almost too bright. He flinched and raised one hand to block it out, suddenly aware that his other hand was in a firm, warm grip. He turned his head, squinting through half closed eyes to find a pale hand gripping his own. Following the hand and arm up, he was greeted with teal green eyes also blinking open. “Riku...” Sora whispered, voice almost too hoarse to hear so he squeezed the hand in his, hoping to get the message across.

 

“Sora,” Riku answers, squeezing Sora back. He let out a quiet groan as he sat up in the chair he must have fallen asleep in. “It’s about time, sleepyhead.” The smile never left his face as he reached out with his other hand and ruffled Sora’s hair.

 

The brunet chuckled, leaning into the hand. He suddenly heard a sharp sniff and choked off sob. Reluctantly, he turned his head away from Riku’s smile and focused on where the noise had come from.

 

At the end of the bed, Kairi was clutching her hands to her mouth, holding back the tears. “Kai--” He barely got the rest of the name out when the redhead leapt onto the bed to wrap her arms around his shoulders in a near crushing hug.

 

“Sora!” She cried, burying her face in his shoulder.

 

Sora only hesitated a moment before wrapping his free arm around her in a hug. He then glanced up at Riku whose smile had changed to something more bittersweet. The silver haired boy tried to untangle his grip from Sora’s, probably to let the younger boy return Kairi’s hug properly.

 

Sora refused to let go, instead using his grip to drag Riku onto the bed till both of his best friends were eye level. Kairi grinned and wrapped an arm around Riku as well, which the silver haired boy returned.

 

Tears began leaking from blue eyes, but Sora made no attempt to try and hide them. “I’m... I’m back!”

 

He felt the harsh intake of air next to him as Riku’s grip tightened, Kairi letting out a wet laugh. “Welcome home,” they murmured in unison.

 

Sora’s tears started to fall freely, and he was shocked to find tears also staining Riku’s cheeks when he looked up into the face of his oldest friend. He raised an eyebrow in question, but Riku just shook his head, gently untangling his grip on Sora’s hand only to bury it in brunet spikes and pull the boy in for a hug. Sora rested his forehead against Riku’s clavicle, close enough to hear the thump-thump of Riku’s heart.

 

“You’re home,” the silver haired boy muttered into Sora’s hair. “You’re safe.”

 

Sora smiled against Riku’s chest and nodded. Kairi tightened her grip on both of them.

 

Protected within the embrace of his friends, within hearing distance of Riku’s heartbeat, Sora had never felt safer.

 

\---

 

“So, no lingering side effects from having your heart scattered?”

 

Sora paused from where he was running his fingers through Riku’s hair, the older boy sleeping peacefully, face buried in Sora’s shirt. Blue eyes glanced up in to a similar blue and he grinned at Roxas.

 

“Nope! At least, I don’t think so? Sometimes I have... memories, I think. Things that overlap, but nothing terrible,” he then turned his grin to Xion, “Though, did Little Chef really take control of Lea the same way he does me?”

 

Xion and Roxas both laughed, and the blonde pulled out his phone. “Yeah! Xion sent me a video, hang on a second.” He quickly pulled something up, ducking out of Lea’s reach when the taller redhead tried to take the phone.

 

“C’mon!” Lea complained, “It’s not _that_ funny.”

 

“It’s more pathetic,” Isa corrected.

 

Sora chuckled at Lea’s pout and leaned into see the video as Roxas pressed play. In his arms, Riku shifted a bit, just enough to get more comfortable, and the brunet resumed carding his fingers through silver strands. Riku settled again.

 

In the video, Lea complained the whole time Little Chef used him as a substitute to mix up a sauce and crack eggs. Sora had to laugh when it became clear that Lea was worse with the eggs than he was and the rat quickly moved back to a younger version of Sora.

 

“Mmm... Sora?”

 

Sora turned to the armchair where Kairi was still sleeping. Both of his best friends had fallen asleep shortly after Sora had woken up, exhaustion catching up with them. Kairi had quickly taken the chair Riku had vacated when he joined Sora on the bed.

 

His older friend had stubbornly tried to ward off rest as long as possible till Sora began to run his fingers through Riku’s hair, lulling the taller boy to sleep. Soon after, the boy had unconsciously rolled completely on the bed to lay his head on Sora’s chest, right over his heartbeat, where he had stayed as Ienzo and Ansem the Wise checked Sora’s recovery and Roxas, Xion, Lea, and Isa came to visit.

 

“Hey Kairi,” Sora whispered, a little more mindful of the boy using his chest as a pillow. “Sorry, did I wake you?”

 

“Mm...no...” Kairi yawned and sat up a bit more, nodding at Lea and the others. “It was nice to wake up to your laugh though.” She turned her attention to Riku. “Finally sleeping, huh?”

 

“Yeah, he didn’t last too long after you fell asleep.” Sora shrugged. “Never could when someone’s doing this.” He motioned to where his hands were buried in Riku’s hair, petting and scratching softly.

 

“Mmm, I think that has less to do with it, and more just the fact that _you’re_ doing it.”

 

“Huh?” Sora tilted his head, “What does that mean?”

 

“Riku...” Kairi trailed off, clearly not sure what to say.

 

“He didn’t sleep,” Roxas cut in. “I mean, he’d do it for an hour at a time maybe, on the way home--”

 

“He wasn’t sleeping well before that either,” Kairi admitted. “He’d wake up hours before anyone else, and it’s not like we were going to sleep early.”

 

Sora frowned, his other hand wrapping around Riku’s waist and pulling the boy closer. “Riku.”

 

In his sleep, Riku’s hand reached out and clutched at Sora’s jacket, as if trying to reassure him. Then he shifted again, shivering a bit. Sora hurriedly wrapped both his arms around the boy to try and warm him up.

 

Kairi chuckled quietly, “Hang on, I think--” She turned around, quickly grabbing the blanket off the back of the armchair and stood up. She stretched a bit before unfolding the blanket and draping it across Riku’s shoulders.

 

It wasn’t quite large enough to cover all of him, but the shivering stopped. Kairi grinned and gently brushed Riku’s bangs from his eyes. “I’m just glad he’s resting now. Everyone else got at least some sleep.” She glanced up at Sora. “Not that we weren’t equally as worried, but you know Riku...” she trailed off, but Sora understood.

 

“You guys seemed to have everything under control here though,” Sora motioned around them, from the armchair to the other furniture in the cozy room he had woken up in.

 

“Technically it was an examination room.” Xion admitted, “So Ienzo and Ansem the Wise could keep an eye on you. But Riku didn’t like the idea of you being--” She searched for a word. “Alone?”

 

“Isolated?” Kairi offered, crossing her arms.

 

“Treated like an experiment,” Roxas stated, hands on his hips. “I’m pretty sure those were the words he shouted.”

 

“Anyway,” Lea waved a hand over the now fully furnished room. “You generally always had someone staying in the room with you, so Riku brought Merlin in to conjure up some proper furniture.” He eyed a nearby lamp. “I’m pretty sure that lamp had it out for me though.”

 

Kairi giggled. “At least it’s not the armoire!”

 

“C’mon Kairi, you promised to never mention the armoire!” Lea was laughing though, followed by Roxas and Xion though they seemed more confused.

 

Sora was lost as well, and he quickly caught Kairi’s eye. A single look passed between them; a promise to explain later.

 

“Well...” Xion began to back out of he room, “We’ll the others visit for a bit if you’re up to it. The room can be pretty crowded when everyone is here.”

 

“Everyone?”

 

“Of course!” Kairi grinned, “They’re all waiting outside.”

 

“Oh.” Sora hadn’t expected...everyone. “Then, yeah, I’m up for it!”

 

They all headed for the door, but then Kairi paused, looking back at Sora with a bit of sadness in her eyes.

 

“Actually, can I get a moment?” she asked, “Tell them I’ll be out soon, promise!”

 

Xion, Roxas, Lea, and Isa all nodded in agreement, waving as they left. Once they were gone Kairi sat on the edge of the bed, running a gentle hand through Riku’s hair.

 

“I’m sorry,” she began, which confused Sora greatly.

 

“Sorry? For what?”

 

“It’s because of me that you were scattered to begin with,” Kairi let out a sigh, “If I wasn’t capt--”

 

“Kairi,” Sora interrupted, reaching out to grab her hand, holding it gently. “That’s not your fault. Even the best of us can get overwhelmed or captured. You can’t blame yourself for that!”

 

Reluctantly, Kairi nodded, “Riku said the same thing.”

 

“Then you should definitely listen to him!” Sora grinned, “He’s the master out of the three of us after all. Unless you--”

 

“Haha, no. I’m still in training,” Kairi grinned, “Aqua’s teaching me self defense though. Xion and Namine are learning as well, though Namine doesn’t want to wield a keyblade.”

 

“Why not? I bet she’d be good at it!”

 

Kairi shrugged, “She prefers to provide support. Aerith is gonna teach her healing spells as well.”

 

“That’s great!” Sora was glad that Namine was her own person now and could make those choices for herself.

 

“Yeah,” Kairi nodded, and then the sadness returned. “But still. Sora, I don’t want you to die because of me.”

 

“Kairi, I didn’t--”

 

“You were almost gone forever!” Kairi’s voice rose and she untangled her hand from Sora’s. “If it wasn’t for Riku--”

 

“But it wasn’t just Riku.” Sora ran his hand through silver hair again when Riku began to stir, lulling him back to sleep. “I needed all of you.”

 

“Riku was the one you needed most.” Kairi’s voice had softened again.

 

Sora let out a sigh, but didn’t deny it. He supposed several near death experiences would bring things into sharper focus.

 

And, looking at Kairi, it did the same to her.

 

“We’re not fourteen anymore, Sora,” Kairi whispered. “I had asked that you never change... but I suppose that was pretty selfish. Fourteen-year-old you had a crush on me, and I knew that. I guess in some ways, I wanted it to stay that way forever. Crushes are easy at fourteen. But you grew up and you changed.”

 

“I haven’t changed that much!”

 

“Yes, you have,” Kairi shrugged, “And that’s okay. I’ve changed too. I don’t want to just sit on the sidelines anymore watching you and Riku fight. I want to join in.” She turned to wink at Sora, “And one day, I’m gonna beat both of you.”

 

“I look forward to it!” Sora nodded.

 

“And I want to know more about my past,” Kairi continued, ”Ienzo and Leon are helping me search the archives here at the castle, but a lot of it is still missing. Also, I asked Master Yen Sid if Namine and I could go on an adventure of our own... we’re framing it as an sort of Independent Study. We’re gonna find all of the new princesses of heart. That way, if someone else wants to cause trouble with them we’ll know where they are!” She grinned at Sora, then looked away again.

 

“The point is, I’m not the same girl who shared a hand drawn paopu fruit with you. I’m not even the same person who shared a real paopu with you on the island. I’ve changed and I want so much more now. And I’m scared that because we did that, you might... have thought it meant something that I don’t want it to mean anymore. I want to be a part of your life. As your best friend. Is that okay?” She looked up at him nervously.

 

Sora never wanted Kairi to be nervous about telling him something. “Of course! That’s what I want, too. You and Riku.”

 

“Hmm...” Kairi looked back to where Riku still sleeping peacefully, unperturbed by the heavy conversation happening around him. “I think Riku wants a bit more though, if you know what I mean.”

 

Sora felt his whole face heat up and his hand paused from where it was petting Riku. “I don’t-- you-- he--” He took a deep breath, pouting at Kairi’s giggle. “C’mon Kai, don’t tease.”

 

“Hmm, so you do know what I mean.” Kairi laughed harder. “I knew it. He held that last piece in his heart.”

 

“I wanted him to have it,” Sora admitted quietly. “I want him to have my whole heart.”

 

Kairi gave him a soft smile. “I know he’ll want to give you his as well. You two.. You don’t need a paopu fruit to intertwine your destinies. They’ve been intertwined forever, haven’t they?”

 

Sora huffed and found himself hugging Riku closer. “I can’t-- Kairi, I didn’t realize how much he cared about me. Not until that final--well.. I’m not sure how much you remember.”

 

Kairi nodded. “I think-- for whatever reason, you and I are the only ones who do remember the first go around. But I remember waiting for you by a bright warm light. And it wasn’t my light.”

 

“It was Riku’s,” Sora grinned and gently ran a hand down the older boy’s back, chuckling softly when the other nuzzled closer, his fingers clutching Sora’s shirt. “I was following his light. He led us back home again.”

 

“And he always will,” Kairi smiled, running a hand through Riku’s hair and then leaning in to ruffle Sora’s hair, something she hadn’t done since they were kids. “I missed being your best friend.”

 

“I never thought you stopped being that. I meant what I said before.” The words fell from Sora’s lips before he could stop them, not wanting any more confusion. “I do feel stronger when your around. My friends have always made me feel that way. That wasn’t... I wasn’t just saying that because of some fruit. You always made me feel stronger.”

 

“You make me feel strong too, Sora,” Kairi grinned and then slid off the bed. “I’m glad we cleared the air though. You and Riku are my best friends, and I’m yours. And you two are gonna get your act together as soon as Riku wakes up, right?” She pointed a finger at him, both teasing and threatening.

 

Sora laughed nervously, not sure about the sudden deadline but nodded anyway. “Right.”

 

Kairi grinned one last time and then walked over to the door. “Okay! He’s ready for his lecture!”

 

“Huh?” _Lecture?_

 

“You didn’t warn him though, right?” a deep voice answered.

 

“Nope!” Kairi grinned, then opened the door a little wider, letting in three people Sora recognized instantly.

 

“Leon!” Sora grinned, “Cloud! Aerith!”

 

Aerith came over and gently wrapped her arms around him, careful of Riku. “Sora. You look well.”

 

“Thanks!” Sora grinned, “I--” He was cut off when Leon roughly ruffled his hair. “Leon! Hey!”

 

“That’s for nearly dying on us,” Leon muttered.

 

“I didn’t mean--”

 

“Leon was just worried,” Aerith reassured him, “We all were.”

 

“What happened?” Cloud asked, taking Kairi’s vacated seat on the bed while Leon settled in the chair. Aerith stood nearby, crossing her arms and her eyes narrowing in a stern look.

 

Sora suddenly felt very nervous.

 

The door slammed shut and with a start, Sora realized that Kairi had left the room, probably to join Xion and the others. And Riku was asleep.

 

He would have to explain alone.

 

The brunet swallowed, “Um, so.... What have you heard?”

 

“Start from the Mark of Mastery exam,” Cloud suggested. In the chair, Leon crossed his arms and lowered his head, indicating that he was ready to listen.

 

Sora took a deep breath. Right. He could do that.

 

“So, it all actually kinda began about twelve years ago...”

 

\---

 

After the Radiant Garden crew left, with lots of promises that Yuffie, Cid, and Tifa would visit the next day, Sora had a bit of a break. Riku had slept through the entire story, even starting to snore at some parts.

 

_You didn’t really lose sleep over me, right?_ Sora wondered, trailing one hand from Riku’s hair and down the boy’s back. It was unusual for the boy to nap for so long. But, with what Roxas and Kairi had said, Riku must have been exhausted. “Riku, I’m not worth that...”

 

Riku, of course, didn’t answer.

 

Despite all the rest he had recently, Sora found himself dozing, lulled to sleep by Riku’s soft snores.

 

It wasn’t until he felt something pawing at his hair that he realized he had truly fallen asleep. Whatever it was though wasn’t hurting him. It felt kinda nice, and Sora nearly fell back asleep.

 

Then the thing pulled harshly and Sora jerked awake. “I’m up! I’m up! I’m--” He gasped when he saw three more people in the room, having not heard them come in. Aqua and Terra both looked apologetic, while Ven was glaring at Sora.

 

No. At something just _above_ Sora.

 

“Mmph... S’ra?” Riku asked, still half asleep and Sora ran a hand down the taller boy’s back in reassurance.

 

“It’s okay. Go back to sleep.”

 

“Mmmph...”

 

Sora felt a puff of air as Riku let out a huff and then the soft snores continued.

 

“Vanitas,” Ven let out a sigh. “That wasn’t very nice...”

 

“Huh?” Sora tilted his head up, trying to catch sight of what Ven was talking to when something crawled down his face and landed on Riku’s head. “Hey! Get off!” Sora tried to physically pick the dark creature up, but it dodged his hand and landed on the mattress instead.

 

Sora frowned, the little creature glaring back with odd shaped red eyes and pawing at the sheets in irritation. “Vanitas?”

 

The creature shuddered and pawed, almost in agreement, then retreated to a darkened corner of the room.

 

“I thought he had done enough sleeping,” a deeper voice responded.

 

Terra let out a huff, “How would you like it if someone pulled on your hair?”

 

There was a scoff. “I’d like to see someone get close enough,” the voice threatened.

 

With a start, Sora realized it had come from the darkened corner. When he squinted, he could just make out the outline of a person. “How do you--”

 

“Don’t question it...” Ven sighed, “We’re working with Ienzo to make the whole ‘body’ thing permanent.”

 

“I didn’t say if I’d accept that or not,” Vanitas protested.

 

“Anything is better than _carrying_ your lazy butt around,” Ven muttered.

 

There was a sort of hiss from the corner, and Sora figured that Vanitas was using his unversed form to express his displeasure at Ven’s choice of words.

 

There was something in the way they bickered... something that reminded Sora of--”Big brother?” He tilted his head, “Big Brother...Van?”

 

Ven blinked in shock at Sora’s words, then turned to Vanitas with a smirk. “Told you he’d remember.”

 

Aqua and Terra also both looked into the darkened corner. Sora wondered if they could see the boy a bit better, for Terra was barely holding back a laugh and even Aqua was smirking a little. Vanitas must have been making quite the face.

 

“Shut up. Sora was way easier to deal with as a five year old. Turn him back.”

 

“No, thank you!” Sora quickly protested, laughing when even the sleeping Riku had an adverse reaction to Vanitas’s words, snorting and tightening his grip on Sora’s shirt. His laughter died down slowly, “How have you guys been?”

 

“Alright,” Ven shrugged. “Been getting the Land of Departure back in order...” He trailed off for a moment before his face brightened up, “Oh! And there’s someone at home who wants to meet you. They’re pretty shy about traveling though, so I guess we’ll have to wait until you're better.”

 

Someone at the Land of Departure? Sora wondered who that could be.

 

Ven sat down on the bed, hesitating a bit before speaking. “You scared us a bit. All of us.”

 

“I’m sorry.” Sora hadn’t meant to scare any of them. He wasn’t even sure what went wrong. One minute he was helping Kairi back to the Destiny Islands, and then he felt his heart just...dissolve. “I didn’t mean to.”

 

“I know,” Ven said.

 

“Ventus and I know what it’s like to have a broken heart,” Vanitas huffed, his unversed form letting out another displeased hiss. “What we can’t figure out is how you managed to survive a shattered one. Broken is painful, shattered--”

 

“I don’t know,” Sora shrugged, “And I’d rather not relive it. But yes... it was---” He shrugged again. He couldn’t describe it. Only that it felt like all of his connections to his friends had been severed at once, leaving him feeling alone and afraid and less than nothing.

 

Maybe, in the end, that’s all he--

 

“Hey! You’re not nothing!” Vanitas suddenly shouted, and his form grew in substance, just for a moment, as if feeling a strong emotion gave him strength.

 

Riku shifted his his sleep at the shout, and Sora glared at Vanitas pointedly, “How did--?”

 

“You’re practically radiating sadness and loneliness over there,” the other boy grumbled, “It stinks.” He leaned against the wall with a thud. “And you’re not nothing.” He muttered the last part, but didn’t elaborate.

 

“Vanitas is right,” Aqua stated, then a sour look came over her face, “Okay, not a sentence I thought I’d ever say.  But you’re not nothing. You had connections to so many people. None of us would have found each other again if it wasn’t for you.”

 

“Right,” Terra agreed. “You’ve got something special. Something that I don’t think any other keyblade master can replicate.”

 

“You think?” Sora tilted his head. He was just... Sora. Nothing really all that special. “But I’m not nearly as strong as you guys, or as brave as Riku.” The silver haired boy shifted at the sound of his name, and grumbled a bit, as if disagreeing.

 

“No, you’re Sora.” Ven huffed out a laugh. “And we really wouldn’t have you any other way. I just hope you don’t fall apart again.”

 

Sora chuckled as well, “I’ll try not to.”

 

Suddenly, there was a light knock on the door. Sora tilted his head at the sound. “Come in?”

 

The door opened slowly, and Namine ducked her head in, smiling politely when she saw that Ven, Terra, and Aqua were already there. “Oh, I’m sorry. We can come back later...”

 

“No,” Sora waved her inside. “It’s okay! As long as we’re quiet. Riku’s still asleep.”

 

Namine glanced down to where the Riku shaped lump was distinguishable beneath the blanket. “I’m glad...” She slipped inside, then held the door open for a moment. “C’mon, you promised.”

 

“I don’t see why I should,” another voice huffed, and with a shock, Sora realized it was Riku’s voice. But Riku--

 

The Riku on his chest shifted again, as if Sora needed a reminder of his physical presence.

 

“Sora doesn’t even remember me...” the voice finished. “Not really”

 

Namine almost let out a frustrated huff and reached just outside the door, dragging a pale, silver haired boy into the room with her.

 

“The Replica!” Sora sputtered, then blushed at the volume. He hadn’t meant to say it quite that loudly.

 

The Riku Replica blinked, and rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah. Okay, so you do remember me.”

 

“Of course,” Sora nodded. “Castle Oblivion. I remember Namine too.” He gave the girl a small wave.

 

She returned it after a shocked moment. “So, we kept our promise, then?”

 

“Yeah!” Sora grinned and held up his pinky finger. “Thanks, Namine!” Then he paused. “That’s still not the official thanks yet!”

 

Again, Namine blinked in shock and nearly looked away before the Replica placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and she quickly turned back to Sora, nodding, “You’re welcome! But you really don’t need to do anything official!”

 

He grinned, and then turned his attention to the Replica, still a little shocked at his presence, “How are--not that I wouldn’t want you to--I just--How?” He couldn’t quite figure out how to phrase it.

 

Luckily, the Replica didn’t seem to mind. “Cause of the sleeping dork in your lap there. He arranged for me to get my own body.”

 

Sora glanced down at Riku with a grin. “Good. I’m glad!” He turned back, “Do I call you Riku then? Or do you prefer something else?”

 

The Replica looked surprised at Sora’s question, then he gave a small grin of his own. “Rikuto. Mom and I picked it out...”

 

“Mom?” Sora tilted his head in confusion, but Rikuto was too busy digging out his phone to pay attention.

 

“I promised her I’d text when you woke up...” Rikuto said, walking over to sit in the armchair. “Riku has a bad habit of forgetting.”

 

“Well, he’s been sleeping,” Sora defended, but he obligingly smiled when Rikuto held out his phone to take a selfie with him.

 

“What the heck is that thing?”

 

Rikuto and Namine both startled at the sound of Vanitas’s voice. The girl turned and held up a hand in greeting.

 

“Oh, Vanitas. I didn’t see you there. How are you?”

 

The boy had faded again, but now that he knew what he was looking for, Sora could just make out the motions as Vanitas turned to the girl, almost bored. “Fucking terrific.” He then turned back to Rikuto. “Well?”

 

The silver haired boy blinked. “It’s a phone.”

 

“What’s a phone?”

 

“Come over here and find out.” Rikuto stubbornly stayed near the bed.

 

Vanitas sneered and backed away further into the shadows almost defiantly.

 

“You can’t fully take advantage of your second chance from the shadows Vanitas,” Aqua chided.

 

Vanitas’s sneer deepend for a moment before he seemed to collapse in on himself and the flood darted forward to the chair, climbing up the back to perch over Rikuto’s shoulder.

 

The silver haired boy didn’t even blink at the creature, just held out his phone so it was easier to see, murmuring what he was doing quietly.

 

The rest of the room’s occupants looked shocked at the encounter before Ven and Sora shared a look and stared laughing, Terra and Aqua joining in after a moment.

 

They all talked for a moment longer, Rikuto demonstrating some functions of the phone that not even Sora knew of. Blue eyes began to droop though, exhaustion creeping in. Aqua gently brought up the idea of leaving so Sora could get some rest and mentioning that Kairi would be by later with food.

 

The door had just closed behind all of them and Sora was about to drift back off to sleep when he heard a distinct buzzing and ringtone that he had associated with his gummiphone for so long. But... He still wasn’t sure where his was.

 

Besides, this tone wasn’t coming from his pockets but--

 

The buzzing and ringtone from Riku’s back pocket ceased, only to start back up not a moment later.

 

What if it was important?

 

With a bit of a blush, Sora reached into Riku’s pocket to grab the phone. The letters at the top of the screen read ‘Mom.’

 

_Mama Hoshi?_ Sora wondered, then answered the call. “Hello? Uh, Riku’s phone?”

 

“Sora?” The name was just a whisper. “Is that really--? You’re not--?” There was a rustle, as if she was shaking her head, then. “Are you whole?”

 

“I, um,” Sora let out a laugh, “Yeah. I’m--uh, me. Again.”

 

There was a sigh on the other end. “That’s a relief.” The next words were sharp. “Where’s Riku?”

 

“Sleeping,” Sora responded, running his hand through Riku’s hair again. The snoring had stopped some time ago, but Riku still didn’t awaken.

 

“Is he?” Hoshi seemed surprised, “That’s good. I was worried, but I’m sure you’re taking good care of him.”

 

“Always, Mama Hoshi!” Sora promised, just like when he was little.

 

“That’s my boy.” Hoshi let out another small sigh, “I was just calling to see why Riku hadn’t brought you home yet. But if he’s sleeping--”

 

“Yeah,” Sora nodded. “Not to mention... I’m not sure when I’ll be able to leave. Ienzo and Ansem-- er, the doctors here, mentioned that I might be weak for a few days.”

 

“I imagine. I wish your mother and father could be there with you,” There was just a touch of disapproval in her voice.

 

Sora flinched and wondered how much Riku had told her. Given though that Rikuto also referred to Hoshi as mom, he guessed that it might have been everything.

 

Which meant his mom probably knew as well.

 

“I’m not sure how that would work out, but I hope to be home soon.” He grinned, though this wasn’t a video call so she couldn’t see him. “I want to taste your baking again, Mama Hoshi. And Mom’s cooking. And I want to give Dad a hug, and--” He cut himself off, feeling tears prick  his eyes. In all of his adventures, he hadn’t thought much of the oher people left on the islands, more concerned with Riku and Kairi. Now though, especially after the ordeal he had, he realized how desperately he missed his family. “I want to be home soon.”

 

“Riku will bring you, as soon as he can,” Hoshi promised. “You can surprise your mom.”

 

“Okay!” Sora agreed.

 

“Oh... and one more thing Sora?” Hoshi requested, “Please tell Riku how you feel about him soon? Not that I’m sure you could do things in your own time, but I was hoping, after all this--”

 

Sora felt his face heat up and he glanced back down at the boy curled up on his chest, feeling a rush of emotion run through him and he nodded, “I promise. As soon as he wakes up.”

 

“I’ll hold you to it,” Hoshi said, then whispered a goodbye and a promise to make cookies when Sora got home.

 

Sora returned the goodbye and placed Riku’s phone on the nightstand nearby.

 

“Mmph...what are you promising my mother?”

 

Sora jerked, all thoughts of sleep fading when Riku looked up at him with sleepy, but open teal eyes. He fought the blush that began to form. He told Hoshi he’d say something as soon as Riku woke up, but he suddenly found himself very unprepared. “Um, just, uh--” he sighed. “I gotta tell you something, but it can wait till you’ve slept some more.”

 

“No, I’m awake now.” Riku’s yawn seemed to say otherwise, but he did sit up and stretch, the blanket sliding down to bunch up on Sora’s legs.

 

Sora tried not to shiver, but he had gotten used to Riku’s weight on him.

 

He must not have hid it well, for soon Riku had grabbed the blanket that had slipped off his shoulders and draped it across Sora. “You look tired, too,” Riku noted, running a hand gently through brunet hair. “You can sleep.”

 

Holding back a yawn, Sora shook his head. “No. I gotta tell you. Or I’m just gonna keep avoiding it.”

 

“Hm?” Riku huffed out a chuckle, “What can be so scary you avoid telling me? I promise, I won’t be mad, whatever it is.”

 

“No, I know you won’t be mad,” Sora admitted.

 

“Is it about Kairi?” Riku teased, though his grin didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I know about the paopu fruit thing. Just don’t ask for tips on kiss--”

 

“Stop!” the word burst forth before Sora could stop it and he slapped his hand over Riku’s mouth. “Just stop. Please.”

 

“Sora.” The word was muffled behind the brunet’s hand and Riku pulled it away so he could speak. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think you were--”

 

“It’s not about Kairi,” Sora shrugged. “Not really. The paopu fruit thing was just reforging a promise. That’s all. But we’re just best friends.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Riku said again.

 

“Why do you guys keep saying that?” Sora wondered. “I don’t want anything more.”

 

“But you like her,” Riku pulled away a bit, “Everything you did was for her. Sora, your heart got shattered trying save her.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You guys shared a paopu fruit, that’s practically a romantic declaration.”

 

“No it’s not!” Sora huffed. “It doesn’t have to be. It can be just between friends as well. Selphie’s the one who thought it was romantic. Don’t tell me you believe that too.”

 

Judging by the way Riku’s face turned red and he turned away, Sora suddenly realized that Riku did think it was romantic. The brunet held back a groan, and instead pointed something else out.  “It’s just a legend. And anyway, Ven showed me his wayfinder charm and said that Aqua made them for her friends. It’s based off the paopu fruit too. Unless you think that she loves both of her friends like--”

 

“Stop talking,” This time it was Riku who covered Sora’s mouth, his face still heated. “I think we got off the subject anyway. If it’s not about Kairi, then what?”

 

Sora grabbed Riku’s hand to pull it down. “I--um...” He trailed off, his heart suddenly beating twice as fast. He wanted to say it, he desperately did. But it would change... something. More so than sharing a paopu with Kairi. Him and Riku... They couldn’t ever go back to how they were right now.

 

“If it makes you feel better,” Riku began, looking away and running a free hand through his hair. “There’s something that I’ve been afraid to tell you too.”

 

“Really?” What could Riku possibly be afraid to tell Sora?

 

Was he going away again? Leaving Sora behind?

 

Great now they were both scared.

 

_“And what if you're both scared of the same thing?”_

 

Sora frowned at the sudden memory. It felt like it had happened when he was a little kid, but it was Vanitas’s voice that had asked him the question.

 

_“I... I’ll still fight for him. I won’t be scared.”_

 

Right. He won’t be scared.

 

“I love you,” Sora whispered, then looked up into Riku’s eyes, wide with shock. “I love you.” It wasn’t enough though. It didn’t encompass everything he felt.. “I’m in love with you.” Better but-- Sora grabbed both of Riku’s hands in his, and said it again, this time nearly shouting it. “I love you!”  

 

Riku was at a loss for words. “Sora, you-- I-- Why?” He looked almost ashamed, “I don’t deserve your love. I’m selfish. I’ll cling on to any part of you.” He tried to pull his hands away, but Sora held on tight, and instead Riku refused to meet his eyes. “I almost held that last piece of you hostage because I couldn’t bare the thought of letting you go completely. You may never have woken up withou--”

 

The brunet pulled Riku’s hands over towards his heart, gently interrupting him. “Remember when you were in here? I told you I just needed to borrow that piece. You can have it back; it was always yours to keep.”

 

“I--” Riku’s fist clenched in Sora’s shirt. “I don’t want anything you aren’t willing to give.”

 

“Riku,” Sora groaned, pressing the taller boy’s hand closer to his chest. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I want you to have all of it. Because that is what I want to give you.” Slowly, he leaned in so he could wrap his arms around the other boy’s shoulders. “I love you, with all my heart.”

 

“Sora--” Riku choked out, then the brunet found himself clutched so tightly to Riku’s chest he could barely breathe. “I love you Sora. With all my heart--my entire being. It scares me how much I love you.”

 

Sora wiggled just enough that he could look up at Riku. “That’s okay, I’ll protect you when your scared, even if I’m scared too. I’ll always fight for you.”

 

Riku choked on a laugh, and even with his face red with tears he refused to let fall, Sora still thought he looked beautiful.

 

“Can I kiss you?” Sora blurted out. He felt his face heat up at the question, but it was too late to turn back now.

 

“What?” Riku blinked, and Sora almost thought he messed up, but then, slowly, Riku nodded. “Okay.”

 

Sora couldn’t stop the grin that overcame his face, even as it made it a bit difficult to kiss Riku properly. But he tried, pressing his lips gently against the taller boy’s, feeling the softness there.

 

Riku’s hands drifted from his shirt and into his hair, his own lips gently pressing back. After a long moment, the broke apart with just a hair’s breadth between them.

 

“I love you,” Sora whispered again, just because he could say it. Now that he started, he wasn’t sure he could stop. “I love you, I love you.”

 

“I love you,” Riku repeated, leaning in again to capture Sora’s lips.

 

Pressing back as good as he got, Sora wasn’t sure he would ever be able to stop this either. It would make fighting difficult if the darkness made a resurgence, but they have like, a whole bunch of keyblade wielders and masters now. He and Riku could take a break for an eternity or two.

 

Unfortunately, Sora’s body had other plans as he couldn’t resist breaking away to yawn.

 

Riku snorted out a laugh and carded his fingers through Sora’s hair. “I think you need a bit more sleep.”

 

“No...” Sora protested, but he didn’t resist when Riku pushed him back against the pillows. “I’m not even tired.”

 

“Oh really?” Riku chuckled as Sora yawned again, and pulled the blanket tighter around him. “Do you need anything?”

 

Pouting, Sora grabbed onto Riku’s hand. “You used me for a pillow all afternoon, I think you need to return the favor.”

 

There was barely a pause. “Scoot over then.”

 

There was some quick readjustment as Riku slid in behind Sora and the brunet leaned against his chest. The taller boy readjusted the blanket again and wrapped his arms around the brunet. “I love you.” Riku whispered, just barely loud enough to be heard.

 

“I love you more,” Sora whispered back, giggling when Riku pulled on his hair in retaliation.

 

“Impossible,” the taller boy teased.

 

“Wanna bet?”

 

Riku didn’t reply, just squeezed Sora closer.

 

Within Riku’s embrace, Sora grinned. He felt safe, warm.

 

Loved.

 

It felt like home.

 

\--

 

Sora hesitated at the door, hand poised to knock.

 

Oh boy.

 

This was terrifying.

 

Possibly more terrifying than confessing to Riku.

 

“Just knock already!” Vanitas yelled, only to be quickly shushed by someone, probably Roxas.

 

Beside him, Riku huffed out a small chuckle and reached over, knocking instead. Kairi let out a laugh, giving him a brief side hug before pulling away stand next to Namine instead. The laughter of his best friends was echoed by the crowd standing just behind him. No one had wanted to miss this moment.

 

Sora gulped. Riku tightened his grip on his other hand.

 

The door opened slowly.

 

Sora tried to grin, though he wasn’t sure he managed it completely. “Hey, Mom! Um, I’m sorry for missing dinner?” His nervous laugh was cut off when two thin but strong arms wrapped around him. Instantly, Sora wrapped his free arm around her, his other still tangled in Riku’s grip. “Mom...”

 

“Sora.” Aiko’s voice was barely above a whisper, and Sora could feel the tears as they landed on his shirt. “You’re home.”

 

Sora couldn’t respond with words, just nodded quietly into her shoulder.

 

“Just like I promised,” Riku broke in quietly. Sora was a little confused when Riku held their hands up.

 

But his mom huffed out a laugh when she saw, wrapping Riku into the hug as well. “Thank you.”

 

“You can’t take all the credit!” Kairi admonished, quickly stepping up to accept her own hug from Aiko. “You had more than a little help...” She gestured towards the group gathered behind them.

 

“True,” Riku admitted.

 

Sora grinned at Aiko and took her hand in his, “C’mon Mom! I want to introduce you to all the friends I made.”

 

“Sora?!” Another voice called out.

 

The brunet looked over and let out a grin. “Hi, Mama Hoshi!”

 

Beside him, Riku let out a near inaudible groan and gently untangled his hand from Sora’s, wrapping it round the brunet’s waist instead for a brief hug. “I need to go talk with her for a moment. Don’t forget to introduce Mama Aiko to Mickey and the Queen, okay?”

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Sora grinned when Riku placed a brief kiss in his hair before walking off to have a conversation with his mom. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rikuto heading over as well when Hoshi leveled a stern look at the other silver haired boy.

 

He was glad that Hoshi had accepted the other boy so easily. He had a feeling it was exactly what Rikuto needed.

 

“Sora?” His mom called out, staring at the assembled group expectantly.

 

“Oh!” Sora grinned then pulled her over to the two he wanted her to meet the most. “Mom, this is Donald and Goofy!”

 

Aiko blinked at the dog and duck. “They were your... travel companions, right?”

 

“That’s right, ma’am,” Goofy bowed. “It’s awfully nice to meet you.”

 

“You too!” Aiko grinned and bowed back. “Thank you for taking care of my son. I know he can be a handful sometimes.”

 

“Mom!” Sora protested.

 

“You can say that again,” Donald agreed.

 

“Donald!”

 

Both his mom and Donald giggled in response and Sora realized that this may have been a terrible mistake.

 

No turning back now.

 

“You can compare notes later.” Sora pulled his mom away. He had a lot of friends to get to! “And this is King Mickey and his wife Queen Minnie... Mickey was the one helping Riku a lot.”

 

“Ahh...” Aiko looked torn between bowing and curtseying, but settled for taking the hand that Mickey offered. “In that case, I thank you as well. Riku’s quite stubborn.”

 

Mickey laughed in response and Sora only shook his head.

 

That he could agree with.

 

Lea and Isa were next, though Sora wasn’t completely sure how to explain them as he hadn’t known either of them very well when the brunet had last been home. Terra and Aqua were introduced in a similar manner, Sora knowing even less about them. He would have time though. Time to get to know all of his new friends.

 

He looked around for Namine first, finding her standing next to Rikuto as the boy introduced her to Mama Hoshi. Sora grinned. He could introduce her to his mom later.

 

Behind Terra and Aqua stood Ven, Roxas, Xion, and Vanitas. Though Vanitas looked like he would have rather been anywhere but there, Xion and Ven both held on tight to his jacket, preventing him from running away.

 

Sora let out a light chuckle at the boy who still looked uncomfortable in his new body. The brunet hadn’t even known that Vanitas had made his decision to take a replica until the dark haired boy stormed into his recovery room one day, demanding that Sora teach him how to play some of the Classic Kingdom games.

 

_“I’m gonna wipe that damn smirk off his face if it takes forever.” Vanitas huffed, “And until this body’s strong enough to beat him at sparring, this will have to do!”_

 

_“Um, beat who?”_

 

_“Rikuto!” Vanitas huffed and turned his attention back to trying to beat Sora’s high score. The brunet could only chuckle quietly. Because, of course..._

 

“Sora?” His mom called out, “Who are--”

 

“These are--uh,” It was a bit more complicated than just new friends. Because with a few of them, Sora felt like he had known them forever. “Kinda my friends, but they also feel closer than that. Some of them were also kind of once a part of me as well. But now they’re their own people...” He turned back with a grin. “You see?”

 

Aiko blinked several times, the frown on her face deepening slightly.

 

“Wow, you suck at explaining things.”

 

There was a sudden sharp yelp from Vanitas as someone (probably Roxas) elbowed him.

 

“Um,” Xion offered a grin. “Essentially we kind of consider each other siblings in a way. At least, Ven, Roxas, and Sora do. Vanitas too, though he doesn’t like to admit it. I’m more of a step child.”

 

“Sora protected my heart when he was very young,” Ven explained, wrapping an arm around Sora’s shoulders, offering the same grin as the brunet. “And I had been with him till just a few months ago.”

 

“And Sora and I are kinda the same but not really...” Roxas tried to explain as well. “I was made when Sora sacrificed his heart to save Kairi a few years ago. And Xion..”

 

“I accidentally stole some of Sora’s memories,” Xion admitted. “But I gave them back.”

 

“Oh...” Aiko trailed off, and Sora figured that he should probably have someone more qualified to explain it. Like Riku or Mickey, maybe. “Well, and you, dear?” She addressed Vanitas. “Why do you look like Sora?”

 

Vanitas huffed and crossed his arms, looking away. “I was just the darkness in Ven’s heart. When he made contact with Sora, I took on his dorky appearance.”

 

“Hey!” Why did introducing his mom to everyone mean that Sora felt like he was getting insulted?

 

“Oh.” Aiko nodded. “Right, so... Daichi and I now have four more kids.” She nodded again as if resolving herself to this fact. “We always wanted a big family. So, uh...” She offered them all a large grin that was mirrored by Sora’s. “I’m not sure where we’ll fit you all, but we’ll make room.”

 

“Who said anything about sta--” Vanitas was quickly cut off by Ven’s hand.

 

“Thank you, but we don’t want to impose. We have homes out there and--”

 

“But what if you need a break from all...that?” Aiko waved her hand towards the sky. “Daichi and I already resolved that if Sora ever came home that we couldn’t keep him here forever, but we did want to always have a place for him if he ever needed a break. The offer stands for all of you as well. Or if you wanted a normal life--” She bit her lip and Sora felt the sudden urge to hug her again.

 

So he did.

 

“Thanks, Mom,” He whispered. She really was the best mom ever (tied very closely with Mama Hoshi, if only because Sora felt like both of them had raised him and Riku). “Where’s Dad?”

 

“Oh!” Aiko covered her mouth with her hand. “He had just called before you knocked. He said he was on his way home for lun--”

 

“Sora?!”

 

The brunet whipped around, “Dad?!” He sprinted towards the gate, leaping over it and into waiting arms. “Dad!”

 

Daichi dropped his suitcase, wrapping his arms eagerly around his son. “Sora! I thought--” He cut himself off.

 

Sora frowned when he felt tears again. His dad never cried. “I’m sorry, Dad. I tried to get back as soon as I could.”

 

“I know, son...” Daichi squeezed his arms tighter. “I know.”

 

There was silence behind them as Sora hugged his dad for a minute longer. Then:

 

“Well, at least we know where the hair came from.”

 

There was another sharp yell, and Sora couldn’t help the giggle that came out, even through the tears. Vanitas would learn some day not to say dumb things around Roxas or else he’d end up with a permanent bruise on his ribs.

 

“Huh?” Daichi pulled out of the embrace and seemed to see the group of people for the first time. “Who are all--?”

 

“My new friends!” Sora waved at the group. “I already introduced Mom, but that’s okay. I’ll introduce you too!”

 

His dad clapped him on the shoulder, pulling him close. “Whatever you’d like.”

 

\---

 

“Sora!”

 

Sora startled, looking back at Riku crossing the bridge to the paopu island. “Riku.” He held out his hand so the older boy would join him on the tree.

 

The silver haired boy hopped up, hesitating for only a moment before leaning over to kiss Sora’s cheek gently. “You’re kinda missing your whole birthday party.”

 

“It’s not just mine.” Sora protested, “It’s for Roxas and Xion too.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Riku huffed, nudging his shoulder. “Only you would volunteer to share your birthday.”

 

“At least the first one,” Sora muttered, “I told them they could pick out their own days next year, if they wanted.” He liked sharing his birthday, but he also understood that they might not always want to share everything. Ven had remembered when his own birthday was, and, when asked, Vanitas had begrudgingly picked out the day before, just to be irritating.

 

“Hmm...” Riku looked out over the sunset. “Still the same small world.”

 

“Feels bigger,” Sora countered, squeezing Riku’s hand. The silver haired boy nodded in agreement.

 

“What were you thinking about?”

 

“I dunno...” Sora shrugged, then giggled when Riku poked his side.

 

“I don’t believe that for a moment,” his boyfriend muttered, still tickling him.

 

Sora laughed and tried to squirm away, finally kissing Riku to make him stop.

 

Riku let out a soft sigh, and his hands drifted up to Sora’s hair to hold him there for a moment to get the best angle.

 

As had become usual whenever they started kissing, Sora found himself leaning back against the nearest surface (in this case, the tree), Riku shifting till he was practically leaning over him. Sora wrapped his arms around Riku’s waist and shoulders.

 

After a long moment, lips parted and Sora gasped for breath. “Oh man. I can’t think at all when you do that.”

 

“You started it,” Riku huffed, leaning in to kiss him again, for just a brief moment, then pulled away. “So what were you really thinking about.”

 

Sora sighed, relaxing back onto the tree, and looked out over the ocean again, “Just, I think I made some promises out there. The other versions of me did, anyway. To visit friends again. I want to go.”

 

“So go,” Riku stated, resting his forehead against Sora’s clavicle, “I’m certainly not gonna stop you.”

 

“Silly, you need to come with me.” Sora grinned and ran a hand through Riku’s hair. He taller boy let out another soft sigh that bordered on tired, “I just-- I don’t want to leave my family again.”

 

“Who says you can’t come back?” Riku huffed, turning just enough to look at him. “Isn’t that the point of going on an adventure? So you can come back?”

 

“Hmm, true,” Sora sat up before Riku could fall asleep. The silver haired boy grumbled at the change and rubbed his eyes in a way Sora could only describe as cute. “So, you’ll come?”

 

“Try and stop me,” Riku challenged.

 

Sora’s smile widened, and he reached into his pocket, “I made this for you.” He passed over a charm that he had kind of been designing in his head while recovering. Kairi helped him gather materials while Aqua taught him the spells he needed to construct it during the moments Riku wasn’t in the room. “I know it’s kinda lumpy and uneven but--”

 

“I love it,” Riku said taking the heart shaped charm, holding it up to the light.

 

“I’m glad!” The brunet couldn’t have stopped his grin if he tried. “I know you don’t have the Way to the Dawn anymore, but I kind of always thought of the heart shape as your symbol. Terra told me that it looked a bit like a Mark of Mastery symbol, so it fits! Aqua had to teach me some advanced fire spells that were more intense to make sure the metal pieces stuck together and retained their shape.” Dark metal wire was curled into a slightly more curved shape than what the older keyblade wielders wore on their clothes, but the distinct heart shaped outline was clear. And resting on top of the heart... “The charm on top--”

 

“Your crown,” Riku finished, fingering the charm lightly.

 

Sora grinned, reaching up to fiddle with the necklace around his neck. “Do you remember when you gave this to me?”

 

“Of course. I didn’t think you remembered.”

 

“Of course I do!” Sora protested, nudging Riku with his shoulder. The silver haired boy smirked, wrapping an arm around the brunet’s waist. Sora leaned in. “Who else would protect me from the meteors?”

 

He felt Riku huff out a quiet chuckle and kiss his hair. “Meteors or a wave of heartless, I’ll always protect you.”

 

Despite the teasing tone it was said in, Sora felt his heart drop a bit and he reached out to squeeze Riku’s hand. He felt the taller boy pull him closer in return, a frown crossing his features.

 

Sora would have to talk to Riku about _that_ one day. Just... not today. Instead he leaned into his boyfriend’s side with a nod. “I know you will. And I’ll always come to your side when you call.”

 

Riku huffed and nodded, pulling Sora’s face up to kiss him on the lips again.

 

It was soft and gentle, and yet somehow more intimate that their more heated kisses.

 

They both pulled away to breathe and Sora grinned, “So? Just the two of us exploring the different worlds?”

 

“Deal.” Riku’s eyes were soft from where they stared into Sora’s and the brunet felt his face heating up under the gaze.

 

“What?”

 

A smile grew on Riku’s face. “It’s just... I didn’t think I could love you any more than I did five minutes ago, but then you go and do something... and I think I love you even more now.”

 

That statement did nothing to drain the heat from Sora’s face. If anything, it felt hotter. “Riku!” He tried to hide his reddening face in his hands, listening to the older boy laugh and pull him into a hug. “It’s not funny! You can’t say things like that!”

 

“Oh? Why not?”

 

“Because now anything I say won’t sound nearly as dorky or cool!”

 

“Hey!” Riku protested, squeezing Sora even closer. “I’m not dorky!”

 

“Yes you are!” Sora said, a laugh finally bursting out, “You’re dorky and wonderful and awesome and I love you.”

 

Riku groaned and pulled away just enough to capture Sora’s lips in a kiss that was more smiles than anything.

 

“Ugh, are you guys gonna be gross all day?”

 

With a different sort of groan, Riku broke apart and glared down at the dark haired boy who shouted, “Why the hell does it matter to you?”

 

“Because Mama Hoshi just brought the cake over and Mama Aiko said I couldn’t have some until Sora blows the candles out,” Vanitas huffed. Beside him, Rikuto covered his mouth in a barely concealed laugh.

 

“I told Van that Mom’s cakes were the best,” the younger silver haired boy added. “So come on before we eat it all anyway.” With that both boys ran back to the picnic table Sora’s dad had managed to row over to the play island earlier with the help of Leon and Cloud.

 

“Ugh... who let them become friends?” Riku asked, though there was a small smirk playing on his lips.

 

Sora laughed. “I thought they were more rivals? Vanitas still tries to ‘ambush’ Rikuto every once in a while.” He pointed down the beach where, sure enough, the boys were now wrestling in the surf. Aiko had put a firm ban on keyblades during the party. Terra and Aqua had both been surprised when Vanitas actually listened and agreed to the rule, but Ven and Sora knew it was because Aiko treated Vanitas like another son and he didn’t want to put that new relationship in danger.

 

Further down the beach, Sora spotted Lea and Isa light up some sparklers and hand them over to Xion and Roxas for their entertainment, while Kairi and Namine helped Kairi’s foster parents carry more goodies off the rowboat. Aqua, Terra, and Ven were helping Mama Hoshi get plates and napkins ready for dessert.

 

It was more than Sora could have hoped for. In some ways, he almost wished that he could have invited his other friends, like Aladdin, Jack Skellington, Ariel, Beast and Belle, Hercules and all the others he had met on his journey... but he understood that there were some things that couldn’t cross the world order, so he was glad that Leon, Cloud, and the rest of the Radiant Garden crew could make it

 

Riku dragged Sora from his thoughts with another attempted kiss, but Sora turned away before he could land it, his lips reaching the corner of the brunet’s mouth instead.

 

“C’mon!” Sora laughed, kissing Riku’s cheek in return before pulling away completely. “We can kiss later. After cake and sparklers.”

 

“Ugh, fine.” Riku let out a sigh and slid off the tree trunk and holding out a hand for Sora. “But I’m holding you to that.”

 

“Agreed.”

 

As Riku led him to the bridge back to the play island, Sora spared one last look at the sunset. It was a view he would never forget. No matter how many worlds he traveled to.

 

Then he turned back to Riku, nearly blinded for a second at the light that flashed from the other boy’s heart.

 

Of course, no matter how far he went, Riku would always guide him home again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D Thank you all again, so much!
> 
> I do have a few ideas for side stories/epilogues that didn't fit into the main fic but that are begging to be written. Just a few fun ideas I got from comments that didn't fit with the main fic, but still might be fun to write (and read), so keep an eye out for those! :D I did make this fic into a series if you would like to subscribe to that. 
> 
> Also, though I can't say I'm very active on it, you can find me on twitter @Green_eggs101. I'm working on becoming a little more active on it but it's a slow process because I'm more than a bit shy. :D

**Author's Note:**

> I love comments and I always respond to them! So let me know what you think of the fic!


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